Deserted Island
by InuMaru-Rapture
Summary: A mix of castaway, lord of the flies, and inuyasha. When their plane goes down, Kagome is left stranded with youkai and humans on a deserted island. The jerk of a youkai, Sesshoumaru, proves himself more humane than the youkai-hating Sango. Rescue? War?
1. Chapter 1

What happens when Kagome and Sesshoumaru get shipwrecked on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean in the middle of winter? How will they cope with the island, their marooned situation, and each other? Will they ever be rescued? Or will they kill each other first?

**

**

Kagome erupted through the surface of the freezing water, gasping in the frigid and very welcome sea air. Shoving her raven colored hair from her face, her body screaming with the cold of the sea, she desperately looked around for any sign of life. To her right was some remains from the airplane, the flames angry against the black ocean and sky around it. Silhouetted against the flames were several black bodies scrambling onto an inflatable raft and moving away from the wreckage and from her. Adrenaline kicked in and she started calling out as she swam towards them.

"Hey!" She cried, waving her arms above her head as she kicked her legs, keeping her head above the water. She noticed a pair of arms waving from the boat, and hope filled her that they had seen her. With gusto, she pumped her numbing arms and legs, sputtering the cold salt water from her mouth as she swam towards them. As she neared, she felt the exhaustion fill her limbs. 'No! I can make it!' She told herself with such determination that she felt the weariness lessen just a little.

A pair of strong hands reached out to her, and the joy and happiness of being rescued filled her body and soul as she thrust one of her wet, freezing hands into his semi-warm ones. With little effort, despite her being increasingly heavier with all of her wet clothes and shoes, he pulled her into the inflatable raft. She tried to help herself into the raft, but her wet shoes slipped on the plastic of the raft, sending her flying head first into his body. They landed with a squish on the bottom of the raft.

"You alright?" a voice asked from beside them. Kagome groaned slightly as she tried to untangle herself from her savior.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered, finally getting a grip on the bottom of the raft and hoisting herself off him. She looked down in surprise at the silver haired asshole who she'd been sitting next to on the plane. He looked remarkably unaffected by the events that had just unfolded as he sat up. However, his rumpled business suit looked like it was ruined for good. From the way he had treated her, she was glad for it...though, she felt guilty at the same time, as he had just rescued her.

"You swam pretty far in only a few minutes," he stated, as if in some form of compliment to ease the agitation that was arising between them. She backed off and sat back from him, looking at him with new eyes. His golden eyes shone dangerously in the dark, reflecting in the flames of the wreckage. Her own gray-blue ones shone with gratitude and truce.

"I used to be on the swim team in college..." she murmured softly. She smiled at him. "Thank you for saving me."

"You had saved yourself, I merely helped you into the boat." His brush-off of her gratitude irked her, but instead, she laughed.

"Well, now what?" the voice from the other side of the raft asked again. Kagome looked over at the other people in the boat. There was a young couple, about her age, waterlogged and clinging to each other, an old woman, and a younger boy about 10 or so. His red head was buried in his arms as he sobbed quietly to himself, sitting away from the others. The one who spoke was the young man with his girlfriend clinging to him.

"We wait until the sun rises, keeping an eye out for any other survivors. If we're lucky, they've already sent out a rescue helicopter. In any case, we should stick together for heat. It's cold, and we're all wet. If we don't warm up, there's a good chance we may not make it through the night." The silver haired man to Kagome's right stated simply. The little boy sobbed harder.

"C'mon now," Kagome stated ringing her hair out the side of the raft into the ocean. The crashing of the waves and the crackling of the fire still floating on the upturned craft the only other noise other than the shivering of the multiple people on the raft. "We need to keep our spirits up. If we don't, then there's no hope for us."

"What do you suggest," the man across the way asked, "we all hold hands and sing camp songs?" Kagome laughed bitterly.

"Not exactly, but if that's your suggestion, we can do that."

"All we need to do," the old woman said, "is pray." Kagome finally got a good look at the woman. She had an old eye patch around her eye and she looked very ancient. Kagome shrugged.

"Whatever keeps your spirits up. In the mean time, we need to stick close and share body heat like you," she said motioning to the man beside her, "suggested."

Without too much fuss and movement, they crowded into the center of the raft, placing their backs to each other to keep each other warm. The little boy came and sat close to Kagome.

"What's your name?" She asked, wrapping an arm around him.

"Shippo," the little boy said softly, sniffling.

"Hi Shippo, I'm Kagome. Lean on me. I'll keep you warm." He did as she asked, at first a little hesitantly, but soon, he was laying asleep with his head in her lap, curled at her side. She stroked his hair, thinking of her brother back at home. She couldn't help but feel like fate's play thing at her situation.

She had just graduated with her Master's degree from a college in New York and was returning home to Tokyo, Japan to visit her family and long-distance boyfriend before starting work at a firm in Osaka. For the first time in her life, it had seemed everything had been turning up. However, on her journey home, her plane had encountered difficulty and landed in London, where they boarded another plane that was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, then the Arctic Circle, and finally down to Japan...their Final destination.

She had been sat next to another man from Japan whose hair shone bright like starlight and whose eyes resembled the sun...but his attitude and demeanor froze all those nearby. It seemed with his boredom to torment her by questioning every decision she had made in her life, every flaw of her body, and every attribute about her personally that they had argued heatedly throughout much of the flight. They had finally stopped talking and had been ignoring each other when the plane encountered some terrible turbulence. Kagome had leaned back into the chair, hands calmly placed on the hand rest when his hand suddenly was clenching hers and the seat handle, his back rigid in the seat, eyes shut tight. Compassion had filled her at the sight of his fear, and she had turned her hand so it was palm-to-palm to his hand. He, unknowingly, clenched her hand as the plane dipped harshly. His breathing was shallow, panting. Kagome felt the fear erupt from within her as the plane suddenly pitched downward and the oxygen masks descended from the ceiling. She grabbed hers and put it around her face, tightening the straps. She looked to him, seeing him pale white in fear and unmoving, placed the mask around his face for him. His golden eyes opened as she pushed the mask onto his face, golden eyes staring frightfully into her bright blue ones.

The force of the crash ripped the plane in two, the back half, where she was located, landed sharply onto the surface of the water, while the front half looked as if it were crushed on impact. All of the sounds seemed to rush together as water flooded into the cabin and fire broke out. People screamed. The engines hissed and roared. Without thinking, Kagome unbuckled herself, pulling on the man beside her, and taking off her mask.

"We have to get out of the plane!" She cried. She looked to the petrified people in the seats, some knocked out of the shock, some crying, some screaming. She got up, moving around the man, who held onto her hand tightly like a lost child, and moved to the aisle.

"Everyone, calm down! We need to get out of the plane!" She cried above the noise. Her heart beat hard in her chest, as if she was about to have a heart attack. She had always assumed that, under these situations, she'd never be the one to lead people to safety. She ignored her mind and went to work forcing open the emergency door with the help of the shocked man beside her. He helped her inflate the raft beside the door, and started to help people get into the raft. When she was confident he could handle it, she went to the other side of the plane, through the panicking people, and repeated the procedure with the other door. Just as she pulled the inflation device to inflate the raft, the people behind her shoved in wild panic just as the inflation device blew up, sending her sailing from the plane and into the ocean. She had been shell-shocked as she floated under water, the cold freezing her body like a thousand little knives. But in her head, she kept hearing her name being said over and over, by her mother, her brother, her grandfather, her boyfriend, her friends. She suddenly realized she couldn't breathe and her lungs hurt painfully, so she swam as hard as she could to the surface, bursting out into the cold air.

Kagome blinked once, wondering what time it was. She blinked again, realizing she was no longer shivering, and that she was unconsciously leaning against the man who had saved her. She sat up.

"You're awake," he stated softly. She looked at him.

"I didn't realize I had fallen asleep," she stated softly, her fingers resuming their stroking of the red-headed boy's hair.

"A mixture of shock, lessening adrenaline, and exhaustion from all you've done tonight, it's no wonder." His voice seemed unimpressed, but in the darkness, she couldn't see the look he was giving her. She blushed at the implied compliment.

"I'm glad you were able to help me. I'd wouldn't have been able to do much if you didn't help," her voice was hoarse from, what she was sure was bruising from the explosion.

"There wasn't anything we could do after that explosion," he whispered, as if his voice would wake up the others. "When it exploded, I was thrown into the water and the raft was dislodged from the plane. I was able to climb on, but the plane sunk so rapidly, I don't know if others got out."

Silence weighed heavily between them. On the far horizon, the first tendrils of dawn were peeking into the darkness. The gentle waves rocked them back and forth, back and forth. The boy in Kagome's lap snuggled into her deeper, hugging her in desperation.

"I never introduced myself," Kagome stated suddenly, looking at him. "My name is Higarashi Kagome." She held out her hand to him, to shake it in greeting.

"Taisho Sesshoumaru," he responded, shaking her hand. His hands were warm compared to hers, and they were so large they engulfed hers.

"Taisho-san, it's very nice to meet you," she said with formality.

"And you, Higarashi-san."

Dawn was finally peeking, and the sounds of the others waking brought Kagome out of her silent musings. The boy, Shippo, sat up and yawned, rubbing his eyes. With the light, Sesshoumaru was fishing floating boxes and bags out of the water, using the arms of some chairs to row the boat in that direction. The other guy, Miroku he said his name was, was also helping pull in whatever they could find. The old woman was still sleeping in the center of the raft. Miroku's girlfriend was sitting beside her, taking the bags or boxes the boys brought in and putting them in safe spots on the raft.

Kagome, pointing to another bag they could row to, looked up and away from the sun suddenly, as if something had moved to draw her attention. There, in the sky, was a single seagull.

"Seagull," she whispered, eyes suddenly frantically searching the horizon. There, faintly visible on the very edge of the horizon was a small black speck.

"Sesshoumaru! Guys! Look!" She exclaimed, pointed excitedly, looking at them with hope in her eyes. Sesshoumaru and Miroku looked up and at her in the same kind of movement, and then, followed her hand to look out on the horizon where they saw the little black speck.

"What is that?" Miroku's girlfriend asked.

"Land," Sesshoumaru stated in shock. His eyes wide as he looked to Kagome. "My, girl, you have eagle eyes!" He stated with a short chuckle, before reaching into the water to fish out one last bag before he and Miroku handed out arm rests to the two girls and all four began to paddle towards the tiny speck of land.

The day progressed quickly, but the land didn't get any bigger. The sun shone bright in the sky, heating their skin and burning their faces. By the time the sun was directly overhead, the old woman still hadn't risen. They took a short break to check on her, and found that she had died in the middle of the night. Uncertain what to do, they discussed burying her at sea or waiting until reaching land. They decided that, unless the weather got worse, or if she started to smell, they'd wait until reaching land to give her a proper burial.

Kagome pulled off her sagging sweater as the heat intensified and put it over Shippo's head.

"We've gotta keep you out of the sun," she said softly as Shippo laid in front of her. He looked up at her with grateful eyes before disappearing under the sweater's temporary shade.

"You'll burn quickly," Sesshoumaru stated as they began to paddle again.

"It's nothing that won't heal." She retorted as they continued to paddle.

By the time the sun was setting, they decided to stop for the night, using the last of the rays of sun to look through the bags and boxes they'd found. In one, they found water logged clothes, bathroom supplies, and a ruined hair curling set. In another, they found ruined camera equipment, canvas bags, and cords. In the third, they hit jackpot and found, amongst clothes and books, granola bars, raisins, instant oatmeal, and dried apricots. They sorted the food into equal portions for that night and the following day—just in case there wasn't enough, or they'd have to paddle for another day to reach the island.

Sesshoumaru handed the bag of dried apricots to Kagome, who opened it delicately, the smell of the dried fruit making her mouth salivate and her hands to shake. She hadn't realized she was so hungry. She pulled out one and began to nibble at it, hoping to eat slowly so as to preserve the food. Shippo was gnawing on a granola bar next to her, and she put a hand on his.

"Eat slowly. I know you're hungry, but you need to make the food last." He looked up at her sadly, sniffling, but did as she told him.

"Do you have any kids?" Miroku asked from across the way. She looked up at everyone watching her.

"Why do you ask?" Kagome asked in response, pulling out a second apricot piece.

"You are so good with them," Miroku's girlfriend, who had introduced herself as Sango, murmured.

"No, I don't. I have a little brother that I helped my mother raise, and I volunteered at elementary schools throughout my high school and college years," Kagome stated. She glanced over and saw Sesshoumaru staring at her with his eerie golden eyes that seemed to glow in the rising moonlight. She shook off the odd feeling holding her chest as she looked back down at the bag of apricots before her. God, the only thing she wanted to do was scarf it all down...but she knew she couldn't. She ate a few more, the sharp stabs of hunger deminishing only to a slight pang when she rolled the bag up and put it next to her. Her knees ached and her feet were numb from sitting for so long. She had given up hopes of meeting up with the other lifeboat with survivors after the old lady died.

With a staggering deep breath, she placed a hand on her side, her ribs still feeling bruised and beaten from the explosion. She just hoped it was only bruising.


	2. Chapter 2

**

The night was long and cold. A cold wind had started just as the sun set, stripping all of the heat from their bodies as they huddled close in the center of the boat. The old lady had been moved to one side to equal the weight of the boxes and bags on the other. A fearful dread fell over the crowd as the wind picked up and clouds covered the moon.

"What if there's a storm?" Shippo asked softly, head resting in Kagome's lap, his body slightly wrapped around hers. They were again sitting next to Sesshoumaru, his back against her shoulder, emitting such heat, she was tempted to lay flat against him.

"We'll be okay. We've got cables to tie ourselves to the raft in case anything happens." Miroku was tying the bags and boxes to the raft as she was talking to Shippo, her eyes adjusting to the darkness to barely see his form moving in the dark.

"How much cable to do we have left?" she asked after Shippo fell asleep.

"Not enough to tie us all to the raft," came his soft reply. In the distance, thunder boomed. They crowded together, tying a bit of cable around their wrists and to handles on top of the raft. Just in case.

**

Kagome woke to the sun peeking over the horizon, it's pink fingers of light showing the storm far to one side of their raft—having spared them. Worry filled her as she looked around for the sight of their island, and found it looming right in front of them. Amazed, she shouted with surprise and happiness, waking everyone on the raft.

"Look! It's so close!" She cried, releasing the cable from around her finger. She ran her other fingers over the red mark it left in her skin.

"Wow," Sango whispered, staring at it with wide eyes.

"I wonder if anyone lives on this island..." Miroku stated.

"I didn't even know of any islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," Sesshoumaru murmured softly.

"Maybe we're closer to the mainland than we though!" Kagome tried happily.

**

The sun low in the sky as they crossed a reef into the lagoon of the island, it's sand bars and coral reefs causing large waves to thrust them forwards, as if they were a ball going down stairs. They clung onto the raft as it convulsed its way towards the sandy beach awaiting them. Sango was crying happily as Sesshoumaru and Miroku leapt over the sides of the raft and walked it to the sand, the girls hopping out to help pull it up onto the beach so it wouldn't wash away. Shippo jumped out once the raft stopped moving, swaying on his feet.

"I feel weird on solid ground," he mumbled as he sat in the sand, running his clawed fingers through it. Kagome hadn't noticed before, but he was youkai. He hid it well. Ever since that law passed through the League of Nations ten years ago, all youkai were forced into hiding their features and identities—lest they be caged and tested. 'Humans,' Kagome thought bitterly, 'they can't keep curiosity at bay, and thus harm all those around them to state their minds.' Her hatred for her race was something for another day. She just hoped that the others weren't avid youkai-haters. She knew that would breed fear and hostility between the five of them.

"Hello?" Miroku called into the steep rocks and pine trees. She looked around. This island was nothing like the tropical paradise one saw on movies or TV shows displaying this same predicament. It was steeply tall with rugged slopes covered in mossy rocks, grasses, and tall pine trees. There was a thin stretch of sand encircling the jutting rocks, but she couldn't tell if the entire island was just rock and pine tree, or if there were more.

"The sun's setting. We need to collect firewood and make a shelter. If possible, we need to find food as well." Kagome stated suddenly, glancing around. She noticed Sesshoumaru had his head tilted upwards, eyes scanning the rocks. His golden eyes shone dangerously as they leveled with hers, his chin folding back into place.

"We should divide the chores," Sango said, putting her fist in her hand.

"I'll collect the firewood," Kagome offered.

"I'll help!" Shippo piped up, causing Kagome to grin.

"I'll scout the area for food," Sango stated.

"I'll set up camp," Miroku pitched in.

"First, we need to discard the old woman," Sesshoumaru stated quietly. Silence surrounded them. Miroku turned a bit pale.

"Right..."

"You ladies," Sesshoumaru said, leveling his golden eyes at them. Sango shifted uncomfortably, "go gather the necessities. There will be shelter when you come back." Kagome nodded, taking Shippo by the hand, and walking away towards the tree-covered rock.

**

"Did you notice?" Sango asked quietly as Shippo placed firewood in Kagome's already bulking arms.

"Notice what?" Kagome asked, glancing at the dark haired woman beside her. Sango picked at her fingernails.

"That tall man, Sesshoumaru," she lowered her voice, "he's youkai." Beside her, Kagome felt Shippo tense and pause in his movements.

"What's wrong with that?" Kagome asked quietly.

"He should be in one of those camps!" Sango exclaimed. Kagome's face hardened.

"There's nothing wrong with Youkai. They're not all blood-thirsty beasts the media portray them as. Sure, they've shown a few, but who's to say those tapes weren't edited, played out as a youkai doing those things just to spark fear into us? I don't care if he's youkai or not. You shouldn't either." Kagome's hardened blue eyes matched Sango's brown ones.

"You're a sympathizer..." Sango's voice was rough with anger.

"Does it matter? We're stuck on this island together until we're rescued. Here, it doesn't matter if you're youkai or human. We're all stranded together." Kagome watched the anger fall from the other girl's face, being replaced by the whiteness of shock. After a minute, she spoke again.

"I'm going to look for food over there. Maybe I can find berries or something," Sango said before walking away from the other two. Kagome felt Shippo's hand shaking in hers. She looked down at him to see him looking at her with frightened green eyes.

"What's the matter, Shippo?" She asked kindly, stooping to his level.

"You...you don't mind youkai?" His voice was frightened, unsure...hopeful. A kind and gentle smile crossed her lips.

"No, I don't mind youkai. Back home, I'm dating a hanyou, and my best friend is youkai. I live on a shrine, and we've always promoted equality amongst beings. We may not have the same attributes, but we walk the same Earth." Kagome smiled wider at Shippo. Shippo smiled back at her, relaxing.

"Can I show you then?" He asked. Kagome set the pile of wood down.

"Go ahead." She smiled to him as he shut his eyes for a moment, before a red fuzzy appendage sprang from the seat of his pants, and his ears elongated into points. When he opened his eyes, his pupils were slits, rather than circles.

"You're Kitsune!" Kagome cried happily. Shippo blushed.

"Yeah," he said bashfully.

"You're adorable! My friend I told you about before, the youkai, he's kitsune also!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's gray fox, though, not red."

"Ah," Shippo put his hand under his chin, sagely. Kagome grinned.

"Lets collect the rest of the wood, okay? The sun's setting pretty fast."

"Yeah!" Shippo ran off ahead to find more firewood while Kagome picked it back up and followed.

**

"You're youkai, aren't you?" Miroku asked as Sesshoumaru picked up the woman from inside the raft and moved her to the water's edge.

"Am I?" His baritone voice sent shivers up Miroku's back. Miroku shrugged.

"If you are, that's fine. If not, that's fine too. I have no qualms with youkai." He climbed into the raft. "Here, I'll toss you the bags and stuff. Maybe tomorrow we can look through the rest and clean the clothes so we have more things to wear." He heaved a duffel bag at Sesshoumaru, who caught it easily and tossed it further towards the forest's edge.

"Tomorrow, we will need to find fresh water and a more sustainable shelter. Storms approach rapidly during the winter, and we need to make sure we're safe and by the ocean's side in case a boat arrives." He caught another and tossed it to the side as well. Miroku made polite conversation which was barely answered as they finished unloading the bags and boxes from the raft. He then hopped out and he and Sesshoumaru dragged the raft up the beach to a spot they had found earlier to make camp. It was a slightly enclosed alcove of rock sheltered from two sides with a tall pine tree growing above it. The sand below was covered in a thick bed of pine needles, and the branches would protect them from any sunlight during the day or slight drizzle. Sesshoumaru lifted the raft up as Miroku deflated it. As Sesshoumaru pressed the air from the raft, Miroku went in search of thick branches they could use to create a wall and ceiling for their little shelter. The alcove and raft should make the shelter big enough for the four adults and one child to lay comfortably underneath.

The sun was on the horizon as Sesshoumaru and Miroku used sneaker laces to tie the branches into a stable wall frame and draped the raft over it. Soon, Kagome and Shippo returned, arms filled to the brim with firewood, and Shippo was dragging Kagome's sweater filled with even more firewood.

"I wasn't sure how much we'd need, so we gathered all we could carry."

"You're not cold?" Miroku asked as he took the wood from her bare arms. He noticed the scrapes and a few indentations the branches left behind.

"A little now that the sun's gone down, but once we get this fire going, we'll be fine."

"I can help with that," Shippo said proudly. Kagome smiled at him.

"Okay! Lets set it up first!" She and Shippo set to work building a fire pit with rocks in the sand and then placing the wood in strategic positions. Sesshoumaru watched from the corner of his eye how she first placed large pieces, fast-lighting tinder, and thin, dry branches in the bottom, with a pyramid of dry branches over it. He was surprised she even knew how to make a camp fire. This little human was surprising. But then again, she was human.

"Now what?" Kagome asked. She yelped in surprise as fire appeared out of Shippo's hand, the sudden emergence of fire making Miroku fall backwards in surprise. In a matter of moments, the fire caught and was burning. "You're a fire kitsune?"

"Kind of." Shippo looked proud of himself, and Kagome gave him much praise for his help. While waiting for Sango to return, Kagome and Shippo finished off the last of the dried apricots, the hunger pains barely lessening as Shippo appeared just too hungry not to eat more than her. She emptied the bag into his clawed hands.

"Here, I'm not that hungry."

"You sure Kagome?" Shippo asked looking up at her with bright green eyes. He hadn't changed back into his human appearing self, and Miroku had been asking him questions about what it was like to be a youkai with the new laws. Sesshoumaru was sitting in the darkness on the sand, watching them, his golden eyes reflecting like a cat's.

"I'm sure," Kagome said as Shippo ate the apricots with relish. Kagome stared into the fire, wondering how her mother had taken the news. Her poor mother. She sighed and tried not to think about the chaos in her home, her boyfriend threatening to break everything until she got back, but only as his obnoxious way to show he cared. A small smile crossed her face.

"Hey," Sango's voice called. Kagome looked up. "I didn't find anything." She stated as she plopped down onto the sand next to the fire, rubbing her hands together.

"No worries. With more daylight tomorrow, I'm sure we'll find something." Kagome said, her stomach gurgling with hunger. Sango and Miroku started a whispered conversation while Kagome looked up at the stars, her hand running over Shippo's hair. A granola bar fell into her lap. She jumped, looking up to see the grinning face of Miroku.

"Here," he said, "I know you gave your food to Shippo. Eat this. It will help." Kagome smiled thankfully at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Eat, eat. You're skin and bone!" He said, laughing.

"Well, I am Japanese. I'm small by nature." She stated as she tore the wrapping off the granola bar. She bit into it slowly, despite the desperate need to devour it entirely. She just hoped they found more food tomorrow. Doing all this work with no food would prove fatal for them.

**

Sesshoumaru stalked away from the campsite unnoticed. He could smell the wildlife on the island. There were boars, squirrels, and birds on the island, in small but sustainable quantities. If on the island for a substantial time, they could catch a male and female boar and attempt to keep them domesticated for meat. 'Or,' he thought with an evil glint in his eye, 'I could just hunt them.' By them, he wasn't sure if he meant the humans or the pigs right now. He knew the Sango girl hated him for being youkai—he could smell it on her. The other two humans said they didn't mind, but the man smelt of unease and anxiety. Whether from the situation, worry for his girlfriend, or worry about him being youkai, he wasn't sure, and he rightly didn't care. If either of them gave him trouble, he'd kill them. But the other girl, the one who'd taken the youkai kit into her care, she was different. He'd never encountered a human so open and trusting to youkai. He wasn't sure what to think of her, but he knew she couldn't be trusted.

With stealthy moves, he had ascended into a tree where a sleeping seagull perched unawares. The seagull, although meat, wasn't nearly as filling as it's fat belly made it seem. He crept behind it, waiting for the moment to strike. It fluttered in it's sleep, and then it's neck was caught in his hand. Snap. It stopped moving. Sesshoumaru sat back, claws flexing, and de-feathered the thing. The taste of blood on his lips was calming, and the fill of meat sustained him for just a little while longer—until fish could be caught and he would eat that until they were sure they wouldn't wipe out all the boars on the island and kill those. He pressed his back against the sharp bark of the pine tree, looking out at the silhouette of the island against the black of the rolling sea. He could see nothing in the distance in terms of light, and there was no sound save for the wind and the roll of the waves.

For the first time in almost 500 years, he felt the peace that only nature could bring. He remembered his reign in the feudal era of Japan, the territory, the long walks, the fights. His blood pumped through his veins at the thought of having a good spar with anyone. He pressed those feelings aside and thought about this situation.

As the plane was going down, all he could remember was the blind fear of: "Fuck the Kami, not again!" He growled at how quickly that fear had engulfed him and how willingly he listened to the girl. That girl, who he had spent the entire flight making fun of for mild amusement. An eyebrow rose at the look of shocked anger that crossed her face as he insulted her for her very American sweater with the snowflakes across the breast standing out against the navy blue of the wool. The same sweater that has already proven it's worth in stability as a multi-useful tool. He hated to admit it, but that damn annoying girl was resourceful. And, to his every thankful ears, she never complained. Perhaps she would be a good source for amusement while he was stuck here—he thought wickedly.

**


	3. Chapter 3

Kagome woke up with a stinging in her cheek. She sat up with a hesitation pulling on her chest, the pain screaming behind her ribs. With a small groan, she pressed a hand to her cheek, only to pull off a small slug. With a scream, she flung it away from herself, scrambling to get away from the slug. To her shock, she looked up and found the slug sliding down from Sesshoumaru's frigid face. Her mouth opened and closed for a few minutes before she stuttered out an apology. He glared at her while, with one quick movement, the slug was thrown into the sea. With a quick turn, he stalked off.

Kagome glanced around herself and saw the others staring at her with wide eyes. She laughed nervously and ran her hand over her cheek again. She could still feel the small wound the slug gave her. She got to her feet and ran to the ocean side and washed her face off. She shuttered at the thought of that slug attached to her face.

"You're weak," a strong voice growled. She looked up to see Sesshoumaru standing over her. She scowled at him.

"Look pal, I wasn't exactly expecting a slug to be sucking on my face, okay?" She stood up, hands clenched, her cheek stinging. "Forgive me, almighty one, for being slightly jumpy after having part of the plane explode under me and all of this crazy anxiety on an empty stomach," she jabbed a finger in his chest. "But I can't really help but be a bit snappish!" She rounded on her heel and stalked away from him. A strong hand enclosed her wrist, pulling her backwards and twisting harshly. A hiss escaped from her throat.

"Listen, human," he growled low, face inches from hers, her arm twisted behind her back. She stared at him with wide eyes, not fearful but surprised. He growled. "You have no idea who you are dealing with, girl." Her eyes darkened and narrowed. "You will not speak to me in such a way, or suffer the consequences."

"Hey now," Miroku's voice called over. "We all need to work together. We can't fight like this. We need to work together." His voice sounded distraught and tired. Kagome tried to release her anger, but it was just so hard, especially when he had been teasing her and egging her on throughout the entire plane trip. But then again, he had helped her numerous times and was decently kind enough throughout their ordeal so far. She sighed and let her body go limp in his hands, submissive.

"I'm sorry. I can give excuses for my behavior until the sun sets, but that won't do any of us any good. Can you let go of me so we can get to work?" He growled.

"Still so weak," he muttered as he released her, shoving her away from him. Anger furled in her stomach, but she said nothing. Interesting, Sesshoumaru thought as he walked away. He was aware of the Sango girl's angry aura following him, but he ignored it. She posed no threat.

**

Kagome stalked her way into the rocky forest, stopping at new and interesting looking plants. Shippo would sniff them and tell her whether or not it smelled safe. She would pluck the safe smelling ones and mentally mark the unsafe smelling ones. They made their way to the other side of the island where they saw a boar and it's young running away down the beach.

"The island must be large enough to support them, so I wonder what else it supports," Kagome thought out loud.

"Not much. A few squirrels and birds." Shippo said after a big whiff. "Though, I can't be sure with the overpowering smell of salt."

"You can smell all that?" Kagome asked, shifting the sweater packed with plants onto her other hip. Her shoulders were scraped red and sunburned. They hurt, but her attention was on the pain in her chest. Her ribs hurt every time she breathed, and she was sure there was a gurgle in her lungs. She tried not to panic, telling herself it was only the sea-water she had ingested when she had plunged into the water. She'd be able to cough it up soon.

"Yea, I can," Shippo said proudly. "I can also tell that Sango doesn't like me, and Miroku is always smelling musky, and Sesshoumaru...well he doesn't have a smell." Kagome paused. First at the fact Miroku always smelt musky—which told her he was either really sweaty or horny all the time, a problem—and second, because Sesshoumaru had no smell.

"What do you mean, he has no smell?"

"He's hiding it. My dad..." Shippo stopped, blinking back tears that suddenly appeared in his eyes. Kagome frowned, kneeling beside him.

"Was your dad on the plane?" Shippo nodded, his arm covering his eyes. Kagome reached out and hugged him close to her, cradling him on her lap.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm sure he made it out." Kagome said as softly and kindly as she could. Holding him close caused a large amount of pain to build in her chest until she was almost panting from the strain. Shippo looked up at her.

"You smell like blood." He stated softly. Kagome blinked, and then cursed her luck. Wouldn't you know it? She had gotten her period.

**

Sesshoumaru glanced around the island from his perch on top of one of the taller trees jutting from the top of the rocks. He glanced around, noticing that the island was about a mile wide and two miles long. It was surrounded with a thin line of beach, and there was a bit of flat space with tall grass and sparse trees off to the south, as he could tell from the position of the sun. It looked like the boars lived on the grassy plain, as he could see the little black bodies running around. He looked out over the sea and saw nothing. There was no remnant of the plane, nor smoke, nor light from anything around that could possibly denote life elsewhere. He sighed, his attention snapping down to the bottom of the tree. The girl and the kit were down there, looking at the plants and plucking a few.

"Don't feel bad," the young boy was saying. "Women always get their periods at the worst times, that's what my mom always said." The melodious sound of her laughter met his ears and he found himself leaning over the branch, his hands gripping the wood so hard, it splintered into the flesh of his palm.

"You're a riot, Shippo!" Kagome laughed, standing up straight. She pressed a hand to her ribs, a look of pain crossing her face. She hadn't realized he was perched above her. Shippo hadn't smelt him either, as his scent was still masked. He wondered why he was even listening to their conversation. Why did he even care?

The smell of her blood met his nose. It was a sweet metallic...juicy smell. His mouth salivated and he whipped his head away. The branch snapped, and fell under him, just as he grabbed another one and perched, hidden by the trunk. Kagome and Shippo screamed, jumping out of the way. This wasn't the idea of amusement he had been imagining...

**

Kagome landed hard against the rock wall as the branch fell landed where they had just been standing. Shippo was up quickly, sniffing the branch and looking around the tree. Kagome groaned in pain, her heart pounding painfully in her chest. She grunted and got to her hands and knees slowly.

"Kagome!" Shippo cried, hurrying to her. She smiled as much as she could, but the pain had her grimacing. "Are you okay? I didn't smell anything on the branch, but it looks like something heavy broke it. I didn't hear a bird or anything either..."

"Sometimes," she said with a huff, "branches just break." She rose to her feet, her legs shaking a bit.

"You okay?" Shippo asked. Kagome calmed her body, evened out her breathing, and put a smile on her face.

"Yea, just startled is all." She reached down and picked up the bundle of plants. Shippo grabbed it away.

"I'll carry it. Your shoulder is bleeding." He stated, looking slightly guilty.

"You sure? It's heavy," Kagome asked, already knowing her answer when he bundled it and tied it around his shoulders.

"Feh! This is nothing!" Shippo stated proudly, as Kagome grabbed the branch and they headed back to their campsite.

**

Sesshoumaru stood up on the branch, staring down at them. That human was truly baffling. She was clearly in so much pain, she could barely breathe, but she would brush it off to keep the kit at ease? He growled. By amusement, he had meant teasing, arguing, debating. Amusement of the mind. His accidental attempt on her life left him with a strange empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He ran a hand over his unmoving mask of a face. Perhaps his inner self wanted her dead? But then why was she so appealing in such a disgusting, absurd way?

He jumped from the tree and landed with ease on the ground below. His eyes were clouded in thought. He had already witnessed features of her that he had always looked for in demons... but she was human. The bile rose in his stomach at the thoughts of humans that sprang into his head. No, he would not like her. She was human.

**

Kagome groaned softly as she rolled in her sleep. The scrapped sunburn on her shoulders had sand in them. She was cramping worse than ever. Her lungs were tight and there was a constant pain in her side. She was amazed she could even stay asleep. A loud snap had her dreaming of the branch that had almost crushed them, but in her dream, it had landed on her mother. With a sob, she woke up, sitting up quickly, only to groan and grip her ribs.

"Are you in pain?" A deep baritone voice asked. She opened her eyes to see Sesshoumaru staring at her from across the fire where he held two pieces of freshly halved wood in his hands. She nodded slowly, her head groggy.

"I'll be okay," she said softly. He had already called her weak. She wasn't about to explain to him that her ribs were bruised and she was in constant pain. She rubbed the sand off her sunburned shoulders, wincing as she did so.

"You seem to be jinxed." Came his brilliant observation over the fire. She glared at him.

"Ya think?" She sighed, releasing her anger. "You'd think this was the largest sign that I wasn't meant to see my family and boyfriend again." Her eyes had focused in on the fire and hadn't noticed his stilling movements. "If I were a superstitious woman, I'd say I wasn't meant to be with that loud-mouthed idiot." Sesshoumaru had to keep himself from smirking.

"Sounds like a real catch," she could hear the sarcasm in his voice and she smirked slightly.

"When he's not talking or breaking things, he is."

"Sounds like a half-brother I have. The most obnoxious and rude being I've ever met." Sesshoumaru placed a fish he had caught on the end of a stick and put it in the fire to cook it. Kagome brushed the bangs from her eyes.

"Sounds like he and my boyfriend would get along great."

"Why are you with him if he's so terrible?" Sesshoumaru asked, wondering why it had only taken a few hours for him to go back on his own vow to ignore her and everything because she was human. But something about her made him curious. He hated to be curious, because it was insatiable.

She was silent for a long time before smiling sadly at him.

"Because someone needs to love him."

Sesshoumaru was taken aback. He locked eyes with her across the fire and stared at her. The two points of endless ocean surrounded by porcelain looked dark and stormy, sad, detached. Confusion sang through his veins, followed swiftly by the cold irritation that forced the next words out in a snap.

"Why should that someone be you?" The words came out harsher than he intended. He watched her wince and break eye contact with him. The fire reflected in her eyes as she stared at it.

"Why not? I have more than enough love to give. He's been the first for many things for me. I guess I've always loved him, since we were kids." She poked the sand around her.

"That can not be true love." He stated simply, turning the fish. Anger boiled in her chest.

"How would you know? Just because his is selfish, loud, and rude sometimes doesn't mean he's not sweet, caring, and lovable! He lost his mother at a young age and his only family hates him. He's never had anyone. We have been friends since we were both young. When we were old enough, we dated. We are planning on getting married someday, you know! There's love there! It's true love too!" She had risen while in the midst of her angry rant. A tired passion shone in her eye.

"Yes, but if that is all true," Sesshoumaru answered calmly. "Then there would be no doubt in your heart." The words stung her harshly. She paused, and then frowned at him.

"I don't think you'd know love if it reached up and slapped you in your regal face!" She spat at him and stomped over the sand to sit on the water front. Sesshoumaru poked at the fire, silently pleased to have gotten her so riled up and no longer thinking of the pain her body was going through.

**

'That asshole has no idea!' She thought to herself as she paced down the beach. She kicked at rocks as she passed, the moon light giving her some idea of where she was going. She thought back to the last nice thing she had done with her boyfriend. Her steps faltered and she stopped. Her brow furrowed. What was the last nice thing he had done? Every time she had called, he had complained about not seeing her, his work, co-workers, his step-brother. He barely asked her about her life, and she ended up mostly listening and not talking other than a small "oh" and "uh huh".

She sat in the sand and pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Why did that asshole have to be right? She felt the hot passions of anger at the fact he had hit the nail right on the head. She wasn't happy. She knew that. Her boyfriend never seemed happy anymore, but she had always left that to the fact that they were separated.

A heavy sigh left her body as she placed her head on her knees. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped hurting. She raised her head and looked back at the camp fire to see Sesshoumaru eating the fish he had caught and cooked. Had he done it on purpose? He knew she had been in pain. As a youkai, she wasn't sure which kind, he could probably either smell it or hear it in her body movements. She was sure she'd be creaking soon enough.

A small giggle left her, startling her at the soft sound. She let out a small sigh while smiling, her face and body relaxing. With a few not so very graceful movements, she was standing again and moving towards the sea to wash the sand off her sunburn, silently feeling better and thinking that the asshole up the beach wasn't nearly as all bad as he portrayed himself.

**

The sun was hanging lower in the sky with each passing day. They had found a small series of fresh-water streams that stretched through the rocks and had drunk until their bellies were full. They had ventured through the crevasses to the plain that Sesshoumaru had stated finding. There, they had found wild onions, raspberries, and other types of berries that they picked and ate. Kagome's sunburn had healed, but the temperature had dropped. At night, they could see their breath. The clothes and things they had found in the bags had been cleaned and dried, and now layered on their bodies at night. During the day, the guys worked to collect firewood and other provisions while the girls and Shippo worked to collect food, finish going through the supplies from the bags, and fish.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru still had arguments, mostly fueled by him, but always passionately debated by her. Miroku and Sango began to become more and more detached from all aspects, and Sango had stopped talking to Kagome all together. Shippo had told Kagome all about his parents, his home, and his siblings. As the eldest, he had been invited to go with his parents to London on vacation for his dad's business trip. He was still worried for their safety, but, he had hope and faith that they had survived.

Sesshoumaru was still hiding his scent and all the symptoms of being youkai from them, although they had been on the island for almost three weeks, he still did not trust them. 'Why would he?' Kagome asked herself. 'Humans made him the way he is...un-trusting and devoid of emotion.' She would watch him as he split logs with his claws, hidden in the brush or trees harvesting leaves, branches, or food. Sometimes, she had the distinct feeling he knew she was watching him, and she would always leave right when getting that feeling. She wasn't watching him for some perverse infatuation, she was just curious about him. That wasn't to say his body wasn't delicious and wonderful to watch. It was. Very much. 'It's just,' she thought to herself, 'ever since he said those things about my guy... I've realized how much I've been missing out on... and how badly I'm in over my head.' She had through a situation like this would have made her love her boyfriend more, however, all she felt was distance and emptiness.

It was odd, though, she never cried. Not once. She didn't cry over the now constant pain in her chest. The pain in her heart for realizing she wasn't really in love with him. The pain of almost drowning; of being away from her family; of being lost, marooned, shipwrecked... lost. Lost. The word repeated in her head over and over until she had to seek out Shippo to tell him a fun story that would make both of them feel better.

**


	4. Chapter 4

**

Sesshoumaru gathered the chopped wood together, smirking at having caused Kagome to run off after catching her spying on him again. He knew he was an attractive male, but he wasn't sure if she stared because of just that. Over the few weeks they had been on the island, they had been bonding through their arguments and debates, while at the same time, the other two humans had been distancing themselves.

They had left a stick buried in the sand at the beach with their engravings telling where they were on the island in case someone came to rescue them. Sesshoumaru was surprised they weren't found yet, as important as he was. He would have to skin some hides when he returned to work. He tried not to think about the mountains of paperwork waiting him at his office when he returned. He only hoped his step-brother didn't fuck it all up.

Sesshoumaru walked silently back to the camp, now moved in between some rocks to combat the frigid air that now swept through the island throughout the day and night. He heard the raised voices of Sango and Miroku, and paused in his step at the mention of youkai.

"You know we can't trust him! Do you see how he infuriates her all the time? Its as if he gets some perverse pleasure out of it!"

"You don't know that, Sango. I don't think he's all bad."

"He's youkai! Of course he is. He's probably the one who dropped the branch on Kagome and the kid. I saw the branch, it looked like it was ripped off!"

"It did not and you know it. Stop this! You were never so bad!"

"I was never so bad before I was stranded on an island with youkai!" she screeched the last part.

"One would hope," his docile tone broke through the tension, causing both of them humans to tense. "That by being stranded on an island would allow for one's eyes to be opened. However, it seems This Sesshoumaru has given your feudal brains far too much credit. It seems you are unable to comprehend when someone is a threat or not a threat." He set the firewood down in the designated spot. "Also, it seems that as you are unable to tell the difference between a threat and something of no threat. As I have kept myself as nonthreatening as possible, however, it seems you are unable to look past the heritage I've decided to keep hidden."

"If it was something nonthreatening, why keep it hidden?" Sango growled.

"I have my means. This Sesshoumaru does not have to explain to you, human." He growled back, his chest rumbling deeply. Sango stepped back.

"You're threatening me?" She snarled. She picked up a stick and held it up like a baseball bat. Miroku stepped back, unwilling to get in the fight with them. His pleas for them to stop fell on deaf ears as Sango shouted things at him. From the brush, Kagome stumbled back, holding a dead rabbit in her arms with Shippo at her heel.

"What's going on here?" Kagome demanded, clutching the rabbit to her chest. It's blood stained down her sweater and dropped onto her pants.

"You sympathizer! You've kept his secret! You've doomed us to die by his hand! He's a monster!" Sango screamed. She swung the branch at Kagome. Kagome gasped, dropping the rabbit.

A hand reached out and stopped the branch from hitting the braced woman. Sango stopped in surprise, staring at the white haired demon in fear. His face was unmoved, but his hair moved without any breeze. His aura crackled in anger.

"You will not harm her." His voice frosted the air between them. Sango dropped the branch and stepped back. A look of terror crossed her eyes as the branch disappeared in a green haze of poison.

"You will not threaten us again." He growled, lip curling in a snarl. Sango stepped back again, tripping over her feet.

"You've not seen the last of us!" She snarled, turning. She grabbed Miroku's arm and their bags and set off to the other side of the island.

Kagome stared at Sesshoumaru's back as he straightened, his arms returning to his sides. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He looked at her from his peripheral.

"You may want to wash that blood off your clothing before dinner." he stated as if nothing had just transpired.

"Y..Yes. I will." She picked up and handed the rabbit to Shippo, who was staring at Sesshoumaru in awe. "Thank you." She added, smiling kindly. He regarded her with a blank face and turned to skin the rabbit. She smiled at his back and went to wash her sweater and pants.

**

The water on the beach was striking upwards, a tell-tale sign of an upcoming storm. Sesshoumaru and Kagome were trying to catch as many fish as they could before the storm hit. They were wading through the water, ever so slowly, with a net made out of grasses to catch their unsuspecting prey. Sesshoumaru was further out than she, having longer legs, and the water was up to Kagome's hips. She was shivering uncontrollably from the temperature drop and the strong winds. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru's head snapped upright and he sniffed intently.

"Get back to shore," his voice called over the wind as he scooped the three fish up into the net and held them there with his hand. Kagome looked at him, then noticed the water was down to her knees. Her face paled and she scrambled back to shore with Sesshoumaru already in front of her. The woosh of water was growing louder as she ran across the sand to the rocks that parted for their path to their campsite. Sesshoumaru let her go before him, thrusting the netted fish into her chest.

"Go," he instructed as he pushed his palm against her back. She hurried through the crevasse, the sound of the wind whistling past her. His arms were around her waist in a moment, and she was flying. She clutched his clothes and the fish, eyes open wide in fear.

She looked at Sesshoumaru, whose eyes were trained ahead of him, as he ran through the rocks, barely touching the ground.

"Ooh," Kagome groaned, burying her head in his chest.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Shippo's voice brought her head out of his chest and she saw him jumping just ahead of them. Sesshoumaru leapt up into the protected crevasse that their camp was in, and set her down.

"We aren't high enough. Climb the tree," he instructed as he tied the raft and their bags to the tree. Shippo climbed onto Kagome's back and held onto the net of fish as she began to climb the pine tree. Pain rippled through her chest, causing her to pause, gasping for breath, before continuing climbing. A cough ripped from her lips, but she ignored it as the rush of water buffeted the rocks and the base of the tree. It rose steadily up the tree. She couldn't see Sesshoumaru anywhere below her, and jumped when a clawed hand appeared before her face. She looked up and saw his pale dignity standing above her with his hand stretched down to her.

"Come," he stated simply. She took his hand and he helped her up onto the branch. "Are you hurt?" He asked as Shippo looked around the tree trunk at them.

"Why do you ask?"

"You're bleeding," he stated simply, running a wet hand over her lips to come back with crimson staining his snow-colored hands. She clasped a hand to her mouth and felt for a wound. There was no more blood in her mouth, and fear grew in her. Rain began to pelt their bodies from the storm as a wind pulled at the branches.

"Sit close to the trunk," he instructed, moving to a branch above for her to scoot to the trunk. Shippo grasped her hand and they held hands as Sesshoumaru sat next to Kagome on the branch. Soon, the rain had drenched them to the point of shivering. Kagome pulled Shippo onto her lap to share heat and Sesshoumaru leaned against her. She shut her eyes, snuggling into the warm mass beside her and the rough bark on her other side. With a sigh, she coughed a bit before falling asleep, head resting on Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

The smell of blood reached Sesshoumaru's nose, and he noticed she, once again, had blood on her lips. He wiped it off her lips and frowned deeply. She was injured, and she had not said a word. His irritation rose to unbearable levels and he wanted to wake her, but her contented sigh melted his anger. He wiped the blood on his sleeve and ran his finger over her porcelain skin along her jaw line. Shippo opened his green eyes and watched him from slitted eyes. The compassion etched in his golden eyes left Shippo feeling odd. He shut his eyes quickly, and snuggled into Kagome.

The rain fell on, the winds howled and pulled at the tree. Sesshoumaru repositioned himself so that he was straddling the branch, his arms on either side of Kagome, claws buried in the bark of the tree. Kagome woke once during the storm, surprised at the closeness of their bodies, but relishing in the heat. She did not move her head from it's position against his chest, but she pressed closer to him, to his warmth. Sleep soon reclaimed her as the storm waged on.

Shippo, in the midst of sleep and subconscious fear, cuddled into Kagome and began to send his scent into her, as a pup would do from their mother. In doing so, the pup also would take energy from the mother to feel safer. Kagome gasped as the energy was sucked from her. Shippo jumped when the sound of a feral growl woke him from his sleep. A second growl frightened him so much he attempted to scurry away, only to find empty air surround him as he started to fall.

A pale hand grabbed onto his arm, followed by a soft grunt as Shippo's weight dislodged his savior's shoulder from it's socket. Shippo hung there for a moment, before Sesshoumaru's voice commanded him to crawl up his arm. Shippo did as commanded, landing once more in Kagome's lap. She woke with a start, and wrapped her arms around Shippo.

"What happened?" She asked, noticing the wind had died down and the rain had stopped. She pushed her wet bangs from her face and looked down at a blushing Shippo. Sesshoumaru had his hand pressed against his arm, sitting away from Kagome. His shoulder looked odd to her.

"I'm sorry," Shippo said to no one in particular.

"You can not help it," Sesshoumaru responded, pressing his shoulder up. He grimaced in pain. "Pups initiate that form of comfort when they are most scared." Kagome looked between the two of them, still confused, until she realized what Sesshoumaru was doing.

"Hey, stop that." She commanded, setting Shippo on the branch beside her and the trunk. She straddled the branch and inched over to Sesshoumaru. "Let me. You shouldn't try to put it back in place yourself." She paused, waiting for his permission. He released his arm and nodded to her. She took in a breath, suddenly nervous, and inched closer to him until their knees were touching. She leaned forward, gripping his arm.

"Hold onto the branch," she instructed. He grunted as he reached behind himself and dug his claws into the branch. She took in a deep breath, pain rippling through her chest as she did so, and a little cough threatening to come out. And then, she pressed her weight into her arms and, with a resounding 'pop', the shoulder went back into place. Sesshoumaru's face contorted into a look of discomfort, and then relaxed as Kagome backed away. He rolled his arm around his shoulder.

"I am in your debt," he stated as she backed away to Shippo. Shippo put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him and smiled.

"Will you tell me what I missed? And how your arm got that way?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

"I was..." Shippo started, he stopped, embarrassed. "I was having a bad dream...and I thought you felt like my mother, so I tried to comfort myself from your energy. But I heard a growl and I woke up. I heard another growl or maybe it was the wind blowing, and I was so scared I tried to run. But I fell. Sesshoumaru caught me. By doing so..." Shippo was cut off here by Sesshoumaru.

"By doing so, my arm became as you saw it, and he was forced to climb up, instead of me placing him back in your protective clutches," Sesshoumaru finished. Kagome reached behind her and hugged Shippo.

"You can comfort yourself on my energy anytime, Shippo. I'm glad to know you can count on me." Kagome smiled lovingly up at Shippo, who blushed. Sesshoumaru felt his gaze wander, a small bit of jealousy rise in the pit of his stomach. It was small enough to be crushed, but in that instant, he realized he considered this Kagome as more than just another human. And, he was surprised to find, he wasn't too disgusted with himself because of it.

The small pressure of her hand on his knee brought his gaze back to the raven-haired, sopping girl before him.

"Thank you for saving him...and for keeping me protected and warm last night." Kagome smiled, and in her eye, he thought he saw the gratitude and caring he had never seen in a woman's eye before. Taken aback, he nodded.

"You're welcome," was all he could say.

**


	5. Chapter 5: WARNING! RAPE CONTENT

**

Sesshoumaru was gathering firewood after the water had receded, and Shippo was hanging clothes and blankets out to dry. Kagome had said she was going off in search of food, when in reality, she went to check on Sango and Miroku on the other side of the island. It would take her about an hour to reach them, talk with them briefly, and then an hour to come back. She hoped that, on her trip back, she would be able to gather essential foods and herbs on the way. She pulled the duffel bag higher up onto her shoulder as she walked. The monotonous tone of her feet hitting wet dirt became her music as she picked her way across the destruction of the island. The storm had fallen only a couple trees, but branches were down all over the rocks, making it difficult to pass through the crevasses between the tall forms of rock. An hour later, and she was the smoke from a fire, and made her way towards it.

"Halt!" An unfamiliar voice cried. She stopped in surprise and looked up. A man of about 45 stood there, a piece of cloth tied around one eye. "Who are you? Another survivor?" He asked.

"I am. My name is Kagome. I was coming to talk to Sango and Miroku..."

"Ah, our Cheiftess. I will summon her." Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. 'Why haven't they told us there were more survivors?' She thought to herself. She waited in the clearing until Sango showed up, using a branch stripped of bark as a staff.

"Sango, I'm glad to see you're okay..." Kagome started.

"Silence, Sympathizer. What do you want with us?" Kagome's head reeled at the anger and hostility.

"Sango...what?"

"Silence! Where is that vermin you reside with, Whore?" A woman called from behind the rock. Kagome's anger perked.

"I am no whore. Sango, what's with this?"

"You forsake your own people by living with that THING," Sango cried out, hand outstretched. "It is our purpose to show you your folly! Join us, and we will save your soul!" Bewilderment filled her as she stared at them, dumbfounded. What the hell?

"This is crazy. All I wanted to do was make sure that storm didn't hurt you, and you're telling me that I've forsaken my people?" Kagome asked, her voice strong. "That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard? Where's Miroku? Why hasn't he stopped this craziness?" Sango's face hardened.

"You will not join us then?" She demanded.

"No! Not when you're acting insane!" Kagome retorted. A rock flew over the side of the rock and struck her on the forehead. She staggered back, tears forming in her eyes. She held a hand to the spot, and came back with blood on her fingers.

"Leave this place, traitor, and never come back," Sango shouted, pointing the way Kagome had come.

"Did something happen to Miroku? What made you like this, Sango?" Kagome demanded. She paled as several savage looking people appeared from around the rocks. They had their faces painted with mud, large rocks and spears in their hands. She took a step back, suddenly fearing humans more than she ever feared the youkai.

"Escort her off our land," Sango stated, turning her back on them and leaving the rock face. Kagome stepped back again.

"I'll leave...I'm leaving..." she said, before turning and running through the trees and rocks. The people pursued her. Rocks pelted after her as she ran, hitting her in the back, legs, and head. A particularly large rock got her in the base of the neck, causing her to fall forward, landing on her chest in the rocky, muddy ground. Pain ripped open her back as they began to beat her with sticks. Rough hands grabbed at her, and she screamed out, struggling, kicking, punching, clawing... instinct begged her to gouge eyes in order to get away. Two hands grabbed each of hers and they were thrust back into the mud, her right hand striking a rock. The pain was ignored as adrenaline pumped through her, panic threatening to petrify her of these people. Feet stepped onto her hands, pressing them painfully into the mud, and forbidding their movements.

Strong hands gripped her waist, and tore at her clothing. The realization of what was happening fueled her to fight back harder. The pain of more wood cracking against her back had her crying out. Laughter, jeers, taunts...these things filled her ears as she felt the man position himself. Tears cascaded down her face. Immense pain shot through her body as he thrust into her. Her mouth opened in a silent agonizing scream.

"Not so enjoyable than with your demon lover, is it?" the man jeered in her ear. Kagome pleaded for the blackness of unconsciousness.

**

Sesshoumaru was placing the newly made boar trap against a rock outcropping when he heard Shippo's hurried footsteps, and frantic voice. He stepped back, looking back down the trail to see Shippo's pale white face, fear erupting out of his green eyes.

"Shippo?"

"You'vegottacomequick, they'vedonesomething, Idon'tundersetandwhatitis," Shippo's words came out in a massive jumble.

"Take a breath, what are you taking about?" The scent of blood reached his nose as Shippo held up his bloody hands.

"It's Kagome!" Shippo cried.

Sesshoumaru ran past Shippo, who tried to keep up, and raced back into camp. As he drew nearer, he saw a ghastly figure emerge from the trees. She stepped on legs that seemed full of lead yet made of jell-o, her arms hung limply at her sides. Her face was covered in blood and mud, muscles slack. Her shirt and pants were ripped, and covered in filth, twigs, and blood. Blood and semen caked the insides of her thighs.

Sesshoumaru's normally stoic face dropped into one of immense shock, followed by a look of concern as he hurried forward to her. She stopped walking at the sight of him, and fell down onto her legs. He was at her side in an instant, noticing that her nose was broken, her eyes bruising, her lip cut, and clean marks down her face where tears had once been were now crusted with the salty substance. She leaned onto his arm as he wrapped it around her. His mouth moving, but no sound coming out. The scent of a man's semen and sweat turned his eyes feral, a low growl leaving his chest.

"Who did this to you?" He demanded, harshly. She flinched from him, lolling her head back to look up at him. The dead gray of her eyes wounded him deeply.

"There were more...." she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Survivors..." her head lolled into her chest. Sesshoumaru's eyes deepened to black to see her bleeding back through her shirt, the large welts from being flogged. His anger consumed his aura as it expanded from his body in a series of ripples of energy. It pushed through the clearing with a typhoon wind, stripping all the pine trees of their needles. Shippo stood in the clearing, staring at his surrogate mother, crying silently, thinking she was going to die, while all the while shaking in furious anger at what had happened to his 'mother'.

"Sesshoumaru," her voice whispered, her bruised right hand reaching up to grab his shirt. His anger subsided at the small contact, his hand covering hers. Her fingers twitched, and he looked at them, realizing two of her fingers were broken. "Stay with me." She whispered as she finally met the blackness she had been desiring.

"Kagome," he whispered. He snarled as the scent of that man reached his nose again. His self-restraint snapped as he lowered his disguise, allowing the markings of his heritage to appear on his face, his true scent to flow from him, and his tail to reemerge. Shippo gaped at him, and bowed, as he was taught, to one of royalty.

"None of that, kit," Sesshoumaru growled, lifting Kagome gently. "You must aid me now." Shippo nodded, and grabbed dried blankets and clothes from the branches and followed Sesshoumaru to the ocean.

Disregarding the state of dress, he stepped, fully clothed, into the ocean and walked until the water was to his waist. The water was cold, but she needed to be cleaned. The water did not awaken her as he submerged most of her body. He tore the rest of her clothing away and let it wash away in the waves. Gently, he rubbed his hands over the blood and mud caked onto her skin, mentally flinching whenever he came across a wound, welt, or bruise. When she was free of debris and mud, only the faint trickles of blood leaving still unclogged wounds, he floated her on her back, a hand gently holding her head out of the water as he washed her hair. His eyes found their way to her breasts, which were bruising and scraped, but otherwise untouched. Her front, he was glad, was not wounded nearly as bad as her back. His anger resurfaced to think she had been unable to defend herself, and these cowards had her on her stomach, attacking from behind. She coughed, lightly, starting to shiver. He ran his fingers through her hair once last time before cradling her naked body to his. He wrapped his tail around her to keep her covered and warm, and returned to the shore. Shippo held out a blanket, which he helped wrap her in. Shippo then tied another blanket around her head to keep her wet hair confined. The wind brought an arctic chill as they returned to their camp.

After the water had receded from the storm, Sesshoumaru had reassembled their camp, hoisting the raft over one of the lower branches of the pine tree that had been their home for a night, and securing it to the rock face. It protected their top and side, where the tree also served as partial cover for the back side of their tent. Shippo went to work covering the back of the tent with two blankets sewn from shirts and sweaters, while Sesshoumaru laid Kagome down wrapped in his tail. He stripped out of his wet clothing into dry ones and then, as far as his tail would allow, went into their stores of herbs and medicines to find bandages and such to cover her wounds.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Shippo addressed him with the honorific deemed for ones of higher status in Japanese society.

"Just call me, Sesshoumaru, Shippo. There is no room for honorifics here," he stated with a tired tone.

"Do you want me to fill the water bin?"

"Yes." Sesshoumaru did not feel the need to give the kit orders, as he was already moving about doing the errands he thought were necessary. He pulled a hallowed rock towards him and began to grind some of the herbs into a mush. When Shippo arrived with the water, he added some water to the herbs to make a paste. Shippo began to rip one of the t-shirts into bandages. Sesshoumaru pulled part of his tail off of her, unwrapping her from the blanket. He began to cover her open wounds with the paste and wrapped them in the bandages Shippo made. As the sun began to set, Shippo set about making a fire. He built it and lit it with his fox fire, and began to cook two of the fish that had been drying in the sun all day.

"Shippo," Sesshoumaru's voice called from inside the tent. Shippo ran to his aid. "Hold her shoulders," he commanded as he was struggling to wrap her back with the bandages. Shippo obliged, seeing for the first time how badly her back was torn up.

"Why did they do this to her?" Shippo asked in an awed and hushed voice. Sesshoumaru's face darkened.

"Because she stayed with us," his voice growled out from his chest. Shippo looked up and saw the red flashing in his eyes. He adverted his eyes, thinking of someway to get back at them. Revenge pumped through his veins.

"Kit," the sound of Sesshoumaru's voice make Shippo jump. He looked up to see his hard golden eyes staring at him. "Do not leave this camp."

"Wha?" Shippo asked, amazed that he had read his mind.

"Do not act on your anger. She comes first, understand?" Sesshoumaru's eyes bore into his green ones until he nodded.

"I'll stay here." Shippo agreed, though his blood boiled for revenge. Sesshoumaru took Kagome back and laid her on her side. Shippo left the tent to tend to the fish, his legs itching to run. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the fire to clear his mind of his anger.

**

Sesshoumaru laid her on her stomach, her body patched and bound. His anger at the scratches and wounds around her most private of places had him struggling to retain control of himself. He wanted to cover her wounds with his tongue. He wanted to in-bed in her his scent. He wanted, most of all, to hang the man who did this with his own entrails.

He ran his hand through her unbound hair as it dried in the slight light of the fire. His tail wrapped around her to keep her warm tightened ever so slightly in a unconscious display of possession. His senses dulled as the exhaustion of his rolling emotions and spikes of anger and energy took it's toll on him. He wondered, not for the first time, what he was thinking with becoming emotionally attached to anything, especially this female. His heart throbbed at the pain she must be in—physically and emotionally. She was one of the most kind-hearted and understanding people, and she was so horribly violated, he wasn't sure what to feel anymore other than hatred and anger.

He wondered, for the millionth time, how she had captivated him so strongly without him even realizing. When did she become pack when he considered only his half-brother pack by blood? When did she become family when he considered none worthy? When was it that she and the kit became more than his family, but his wards to protect? When did they become more important than most other things in his life?

He rested his back against the rock, pulling her into his lap so she used his leg for a pillow. She moved to make herself more comfortable, stuffing her left arm under his knee, her right curled into her chest. He looked down at her with such emotion rolling through his eyes, pulsing through his veins, he wondered and thought and considered his predicament.

By his count, they had been on this island for about four months going on five. It was the most time he had ever spent with anyone, or two in this case, people aside from being at work. He saw them when he awoke, when he went about daily things, when he went to sleep at night. His daily routines of finding food and resources had him remembering his time in the feudal era, and rekindled his love of life. There was no paperwork, no business meetings, no proposals of any sort of business related anything. And it was wonderful. It was rejuvenating. It was healing. It was peaceful. And all of these emotions were directly tied with the woman laying in his lap.

Shippo walked into the tent and handed him two cooked and three uncooked fish. "Shall I wake her to eat?" Sesshoumaru's golden eyes watched the kit for a moment before nodding. Shippo gently rubbed Kagome's shoulder.

"Kagome? Wake up, Kagome," he whispered in her ear. The kit's voice was soft and caring. He regarded the woman in before them with such respect and warmth it made Sesshoumaru proud. He knew the kit saw her as a surrogate mother after losing his parents and having no one else to care for him. Although he was just barely old enough to fend for himself, his emotional state was fragile. From this fright and the furious anger the two men felt at Kagome's treatment, Sesshoumaru saw a new strength blossom in Shippo's eyes as Kagome began to stir. A look in Kagome's eye of such warmth and loving care as she looked at Shippo that once had made jealousy rise in Sesshoumaru's belly now gave him a sense of pride at the motherly connection between her and her adopted youkai son.

Now awake, Kagome looked between Shippo and Sesshoumaru. She gently unraveled herself from Sesshoumaru's tail, not at all confused at it's appearance. She sat with a grimace of pain and held out her left hand to accept the fish on a stick. Her face was stiff from the broken nose and bruising. Her lips hurt to eat the food, but she did so without complaint. She knew she would have to tell them what happened, but she couldn't bear to think about it. Her mind, surprisingly, was empty. It felt as if all of her thoughts had disembarked on other ventures as she nibbled on the fish. She was aware of the golden and green eyes watching her for any sign of discomfort, but she ignored them until the pangs of hunger disappeared from her belly.

"Would you like water?" Shippo asked, holding up a cracked cup for her, filled with cool fresh water. She reached her right hand to take it, but stopped when she saw it bound. She stared at her hand for a minute before it retreated into the blankets. Shippo held out his hand and held the stick with the remains of the fish on it while she drank from the cup. She handed the cup back and pressed her now chilled fingers to her face. She hissed in pain as she applied pressure to her eyes.

"Don't cause yourself unnecessary pain," Sesshoumaru's voice rumbled softly. She smiled, opening her still gray eyes to look at him.

"I need to fix my nose," she stated simply as she pressed hard and snapped it back into place. She gasped in pain. Shippo cringed at the sound. Sesshoumaru's frown deepened. Blood dripped down the cut in the bridge of her nose and out her left nostril. Shippo snatched up a piece of cloth and handed it to her. She covered her nose in it until the bleeding stopped.

"Will you tell us what happened?" Shippo asked softly. Her eyes opened and looked at Shippo. He paled at the haunted, dead look in her eyes.

"There are other survivors." She stated. "I went to see if Sango and Miroku were alright, and I spoke with them. They have all gone crazy. They made Sango their 'chiefess'. She wouldn't say anything about Miroku. I think he was hurt or he hurt her emotionally, because when I asked, she got even angrier. They are all humans. They think I've betrayed my race," she paused. "Said I was a traitor to my blood." She pulled the blankets around her shoulders, jumping slightly as Sesshoumaru's tail tightened on her, and a soft vibration filled her chest. It was surprisingly comforting. It eased the rush of blood through her veins.

"They told me to leave, but when I did, the people attacked. I've never been more afraid of anything in my life. They were worse than the worst youkai I've ever met or seen. They had empty holes in their eyes that were filled with hunger and hatred." She shivered and fell silent. Shippo was trembling from furious anger. He crushed the cup in his hands. She looked up, her eyes softening.

"Come here, Shippo," she said softly, holding out her left hand to him. He dropped the pieces of cup and stepped closer to her, uneasy. The gentle purring from Sesshoumaru did not stop, but his instincts told him to stay away from the larger male. Sesshoumaru's golden eyes opened and he nodded to Shippo, giving his acceptance to the kit's presence with the woman. Shippo crawled to Kagome, careful of her limbs, and rested his head on her lap. She ran her hand through his hair. Sesshoumaru's hand gently pulled the blanket up over her shoulder, where it had started to fall, revealing her naked flesh. She leaned against his chest, hair ticking his chin. He wrapped his arm around her lower back, where she had less wounds, and tightened his tail around her and Shippo. The gentle vibrations in his chest lured them to sleep as thoughts of revenge formed a plot in his head.

**


	6. Chapter 6

**

Kagome awoke when the sun was high in the sky. A gentle breeze blew through their campsite and the sounds of someone breaking wood filled the air. She laid in the blankets, her body still, her mind empty. She turned onto her side, causing pain the ripple through her body. Her thighs hurt and her hand throbbed. She pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around the tent. Clothes were folded next to her nest of blankets, and a cup of water sat beside it. She smiled lightly and pulled the shirt on. She was a bit uncomfortable about not wearing a bra, but the only one she had was destroyed from the other survivors. She pulled a pair of panties on, followed by the rough cotton sweat pants. They were men's, but they were warm. She rolled the legs up to her ankles and drank the water.

Shippo's head popped into the tent.

"Good morning, Kagome," he tried to sound chipper, but a heavy sadness and anger permeated his eyes. Kagome smiled slightly, though it hurt her face to do so.

"Good morning," she replied and moved to get up. Shippo's mouth opened to object to her moving around, but he thought better of it.

"The sun's shining warmly today," he said. She smiled a little easier as she stepped out of the yellow tent and into the bright sunlight. Their campsite had been cleared of all branches, which were now in a neat pile beside the fire pit. She moved around camp, stretching her cramped muscles without tearing her bandages or breaking open her scabs. She walked with her right hand in the curve of the small of her back, unwilling to look at it. Shippo watched her with sad eyes.

"Where's Sesshoumaru?" She asked, looking around camp.

"He said something about a boar trap, and left a little bit ago to check on it," Shippo stated softly. He pulled some edible roots and berries from their bag of food. "Hungry?" He asked.

Nodding, she made her way over to the fire side and sat with Shippo eating the roots and last of the berries from their harvest of the plants before the air got colder and they died in the frost. Shippo looked up as movement caused Kagome to jump. Sesshoumaru walked back into camp carrying half a moderately sized boar. It's head and front legs were missing and it was already skinned and cleaned.

"If we smoke the meat, we can salt it with the ocean's water, and have meat for the rest of the winter without having to fish anymore," he stated as he picked up a stick and skewered the rump of the boar, sticking it in the ground. Kagome stared at it.

"What did you do with the head?" She asked. A slightly feral grin pulled at his lips.

"I put it to good use," was his smug response. Kagome wondered if he ate it, or if he took a note from the book: Lord of the Flies, and skewered the head on a pole as a message to the others. She shivered from both cases.

"Did you eat it?" Shippo asked.

"Read Lord of the Flies sometime," he responded, "as this is turning into an equally savage and ignorant reenactment." Kagome grinned slightly in a crazed sort of way.

**

A week had past since her attack, and the wounds were healing. However, either Sesshoumaru or Shippo was always nearby her, as if they feared something else may happen to her. She was loathe to admit that she was ultimately very jinxed with the worst of luck. The days went by without incident, although both Sesshoumaru and Shippo noticed the empty look in her eye and the dazed sort of way she went about her business. Shippo voiced his concern to Sesshoumaru on the one week point after her attack.

"I hate to see her this way," Shippo whispered after her breathing had evened out and her irises flashed around behind her eyelids signifying her dreaming state. "I worry that she has been damaged beyond repair," he continued, running a small hand over her arm. She twitched in her sleep.

"I agree that she is not herself, however," Sesshoumaru stated slowly, "I believe she shall recover. One must give her time."

"But I want my Kagome back now," Shippo protested in a child's manner. He crossed his arms and pouted. He knew it was childish, but dammit, he wanted to be a child. He wanted his 'mother' to wait on him, to tell him stories like she used to, and to smile at him with her loving gaze, not the scary haunted gray eyes that seemed sucked of all things good and happy.

"Cease your childish behavior," Sesshoumaru growled, "it will not help her heal any quicker. What has happened to her is something I don't even think she understands. This is how she is coping with the violations given to her by her own people. Do not be selfish." His reprimands stung Shippo, who lowered his eyes in shame.

They quieted for the night, Shippo laying beside Kagome, Sesshoumaru sitting by the tent's opening, his back against the rock, his body bathed in the light of the fire. When their breathing evened, Kagome's eyes opened. She took in a quivering breath and felt a tear slip from her eye. Standing, she made her way out of the tent and out of the campsite.

**

Standing on the beach, she looked at her bound hand in the moonlight. Anger built up in her. It's poison fed through her veins at how easily she broke. It crippled her mind with how evil her people had become. It stabbed at her heart how little she felt other than pain.

Tears ran down her face. She leaned her head back onto her shoulders as wind came off the ocean and flickered past her, gently caressing her hair like a lover's hand. It dried the tears on her face before more fell down her porcelain skin. She sank into the sand, crying silently. Her shoulders shook, her chest heaved, but no sound left her throat.

The breeze encircled her, then went off. Movement in her peripheral had her turning her head to see Sesshoumaru standing in the sand beside her a few feet off. She stared at him as he made his way to her. He dropped to his knees beside her, bringing a hand to her cheek. He wiped the tears from her cheeks, leaving his warm palms against her cold cheeks.

"When I was young," he stated softly, in a whisper, "my half-brother cut off my left arm in a duel." Her eyes widened. "I cursed every day before and after that moment. Before it, because I had always considered myself of inequivalent strength, and after because I had been proven wrong. I was closed off from everyone even before then, thinking myself unmatched in strength and wit. The only joy I had was of the gentle breeze and the unfailing appearance of the stars at night." He dropped his right hand from her face, and took her right hand in his, their appendages resting on his lap. Time past, and my arm was able to regrow from the healing of my species blood. In that time, I realized that I was not as omnipotent as I had always thought, and it taught me that, in order to better ones self, one must endure hardships and pain." His hand enclosed around hers. His thumb caressed her jawline, golden eyes staring into her gray-blue ones.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked softly, her face pressing into his hand.

"So you do not despair from the loss of your right hand for the time being. And so you can take into consideration all that has happened. It is uncomfortable, and very painful, to think of what has happened to you," she gave a soft sob, "but know this, Kagome: I am here." She pressed into his chest, wrapping her left arm around him, sobbing. He hugged her with his one free arm, pulling her close, without giving further injury to her hand.

They sat in the sand, her crying, him comforting, until the moon had crossed part of the sky. After her tears had cleared, she still remained in his arms, watching the constellations move ever so slowly across the sky.

"You are no longer hiding your true self, daiyoukai?" She asked suddenly, her voice harsh from crying. He stiffened. "Yes, I know you now. Lord of the Western Lands, founder of the largest business in Tokyo, founder and protector of youkai rights since 1864 when Meiji was in the midst of his restoration." He found himself smiling ever so slightly. "You never had to hide who you were. Considering the lengths you went to conceal your power and your true identity, we would have continued to treat you as we have—as one of us."

"But Kagome," he responded with a sarcastic smile, "I am not one of you, nor you one of me."

"I am a being with a heart that beats," she said, pressing her left hand on his chest, "and a mind that thinks," she pressed her hand against his cheek, "same as you." He covered her hand while a smile pulled at the corners of his lips.

**

Slowly, the days got longer, the chill in the air left. As the temperature increased, however, so did assaults from the other survivors. Once, when Shippo was scouting their area for new seedlings or roots or anything tasty to eat, he was forced into fleeing from rocks pelting out of the rocks at him. More than a few times, Kagome was met with the same fate. Sesshoumaru was the only one who avoid abuse, mostly, as they came to realize, was out of fear.

One day, Kagome was walking with Sesshoumaru gathering firewood, when a large rock came flying from a nearby outcropping of rock. Sesshoumaru intercepted it with a growl and took off after the attackers. Kagome was rooted to the spot by their screams.

When he returned, Kagome stared at him with stoic eyes.

"You know it will only get worse from here," she stated. A feral grin crossed his lips as his eyes tinged red.

"I am hoping for it," came his growled response. She studied him for a moment, then studied herself as she felt no remorse or anger at his display of desiring violence. She blinked before continuing on her way gathering firewood.

**

Sitting by the fire that night, Kagome held Shippo in her lap, telling him a story about the Spartans who fought against the entire army of Xerxes in Ancient Greece.

"It's about how a few stood against many, and fought so spectacularly that they made the earth wet with blood and fed much of the army to the sea," she spoke in an eerie voice, Shippo watching her with wide eyes of adoration. "They fought until King Xerxes felt the losses of his army in his soul."

"Did they die? The Spartans?"

"Every last one."

Shippo's eyes flew to the fire, thinking. He always asked for the tales of human wars and history. His father had been a historian, and would tell his son stories of history before bed. As Shippo had gotten older, he wanted the more gruesome stories; stories of valor and honor; stories of war and victory. Most of all, he loved hearing about stories that happened before there were the youkai-human rivalries. He loved hearing how humans would stand up for their land along side the youkai to defend against intruders. He loved hearing how they would die comrades and have their stories sung throughout history.

"Not much of a bedtime story," Sesshoumaru's booming voice rumbled in her chest. Kagome glanced over at him as he stood off to the side, nose perked to the wind, ears alert. She knew he was trying to put her at ease, but the electricity in the air did not allow for it.

"No, however, it holds a good message," she stated. He looked at her, eyes reflecting the firelight.

"Oh?"

"Fight for what you believe in, even if you're outnumbered. Fight hard enough, and you will survive immortal into the ages." Kagome saw the ghost of a smile cross his features as he watched her, then his face turned away.

"It seems to match our situation," he stated simply. Kagome nodded. Shippo reached up and touched her cheek.

"Does your face still hurt?" he asked. Kagome smiled. She knew her eyes and the skin around it were still bruised, making her look like a raccoon with a yellow-brown mask. She knew she was hideous.

"Not as much as it has," she responded. "Now, to bed, before I tell you a sappy romance story about love and princesses!"

"Eww, yuck!" Shippo stated, sticking his tongue out. He allowed Kagome to usher him to the tent to sleep. She tucked him in, and kissed him on the forehead.

"Sleep tight, little one." She whispered.

"Good night, Kagome-okaa-san," he whispered back. Kagome smiled fondly at the kit and left the tent. She found Sesshoumaru staring at her, then beckoned to her. She followed him out of hearing from the tent before he whispered.

"They are planning something. I feel the electricity in the air. I will go investigate, lest they burn the forest to the ground and doom us all." He made to leave the clearing when her hand gripped his.

"Wait," she said. He stopped, turning towards her. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. "Be careful," she finally said. He regarded her with blazing eyes, noticing for the first time in almost a month how deep and twisting her blue ocean eyes were. He leaned down, nose inches from hers.

"I will come back before dawn," he said. He could feel her shiver from his hot breath across her lips. Unable to speak, she nodded. Before she could react, he was gone.

**

Kagome sat by the fire that night, ears alert for any noise that would betray the going-ons around their campsite. Aside from the wind in the branches and the crackle of the fire, she heard nothing.

Her mind wandered to the look in his eyes as his face crept close to hers. The fire in the molten gold stemmed deeper than she could have ever imagined. His eyes shone so brightly and warm, she was almost convinced he held the sun halved in two inside his insatiable gaze. Her heart fluttered at the memory of his breath across her lips. She held her hand to her chest, wondering how it was that she had such feelings for someone in the short span since disregarding her current boyfriend in Japan for nothing more than a childhood crush that did not spill into her adulthood. She wondered if the reason she never cried over the realization that the man she thought she would marry wasn't the one for her because the one for her was the one living on the island with her. She blushed at the thought of his breath, his eyes, his stance, everything about him. She reddened further to think he had been the one to wash her after her ordeal, and that he had seen her fully naked when she was unconscious. It did not anger her, though she wondered if he liked what he saw, even if...she paused in her thinking. Would it be right to question if he liked what he saw when he was washing the blood off her? She shook her head. Probably not.

The remnants of a cry echoed through the trees. It sounded like a sea gull's cry, or maybe a woman's scream, she couldn't tell. It gave her the shivers and made her hair stand on end. The thought of the soldiers of Sparta who stood against millions to protect their land. She wondered if her one youkai was representing the whole of his nation standing against humans. A grin crossed her lips at how unfair the odds were...for the humans.

**

Kagome woke from her dozing to find the clearing bathed in morning light. Dawn had come and gone, and the singing of the birds in the trees was peaceful. She looked around the clearing and saw no sign that Sesshoumaru had come back. Worried, she checked in the tent and saw Shippo still sleeping. The sound of branches cracking down the path had her tensing. She grabbed a large branch, holding it like a sword with her left hand and went to the entrance to their clearing. A female swan youkai with a broken arm and black eye came into view, causing Kagome to jump. The white haired, graceful looking youkai jumped with a sound that resembled a honk.

"Who are you?" Kagome demanded.

"There's more humans! Run!" The swan cried out.

"Cease! Be still, onna!" Sesshoumaru's baritone voice called out.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagome called. He came around the corner carrying a very badly wounded kitsune woman on his back.

"They were prisoners. I had to take them with me. It took longer than anticipated to make our way back," he said as he lifted his hand and took the branch from her limp hand.

"I was worried," she said softly. A smile crossed his eyes as he moved past her. The swan youkai watched her with wary eyes. "I'm sorry, ma'am." Kagome said softly. "I wasn't expecting anyone other than Sesshoumaru to come back."

"Sesshoumaru-_sama_," the swan corrected with a tone that made irritation rise in Kagome's stomach. Kagome held her still bandaged right hand up to allow the flow of youkai to come into their camp. Shippo's voice rose above the crowd and he ran to join Kagome.

"Who are all these people?" He whispered into her ear.

"Sesshoumaru said they were prisoners," she whispered back as more youkai filed past. There were some wounded, others who just looked starved, and more who had ghosts in their eyes like Kagome had since her attack. She was surprised at their numbers. A dozen and a half youkai soon made their clearing feel rather small. They ranged in size and humanistic characteristics. Some, like the swan youkai, were easy to tell which type they were. Others were harder to tell. As she was aiding a few get comfortable on the hard ground, she heard Shippo cry out in happiness.

"Okaa-san!" She looked up to see him hugging the kitsune that Sesshoumaru had carried in on his back.

"Oh, Shippo! My darling! You're alive!" The mother said, crying happily as she hugged her son. Kagome smiled, hope rekindled.

"What is that human doing here?" An older youkai male asked. Kagome looked and saw him pointing at her. A sigh left her as she held up her hands.

"I mean no one any harm," she said. She realized they were whispering about her hand and her bruised face. She pulled her right hand to her chest and covered it with her left.

"Kagome is the nicest human I've ever met," Shippo called out. "When we were on the lifeboat after the plane went down, she comforted me. She's been taking care of me ever since. Even when the humans attacked her," at this the amount of whispering accelerated, cutting off Shippo.

"That's right," she stated, her voice cold. "My own kind called me a blood traitor and ran me off their land. Where do you think I got these bruises?" She pointed to her face with her broken hand. "On this island, I don't think they refer to me as human any more. I am not youkai, either. I guess that makes me nothing."

"Not nothing," Sesshoumaru stated, his baritone voice carrying over the crowd, who silenced to hear their lord speak. "Something better than human. Someone with a heart that beats and a mind that thinks. These things, I'm not quite sure some human or youkai do." Kagome blushed at the compliment. "Any one of you with a problem with Kagome can leave right now and go back from whence you came." No one moved. No one spoke. They regarded this human who had such a high standing with their lord with a new respect. Though she was human, they would see how nice she really was.

**

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome whispered to him from beside the fire. He glanced at her. "How are we going to feed them all? I can't catch this many fish..." He blinked, then his face relaxed.

"Do not fear. By taking their prisoners, the humans will react in a very violent way. If need be, we will move us all to the beach. The winter storms seem to be finished, however, the anger I feel in the air threatens of a large fire. I only hope they wait until the smoke can be seen in the hopes of rescue."

She studied him.

"You think they will go that far to rid the island of all our resources?"

"I do."

She stood beside him, silent for a time.

"Does it bother you?" He asked.

"In a way. But not how you think it may," she answered after a moment. "Normally, I would be all for peace between us. However, I see that us humans are terribly stubborn and ignorant of the consequences to their actions. I am more bothered by the fact they would destroy themselves in the hope of destroying us." A muscle twitch in his lips had her smiling at his repressed smirk. His hand covered hers and, together, they sat and watched the fire, keeping watch over their wounded flock.

**

Two days after Sesshoumaru rescued the youkai from the humans' grasp, the tell-tale sign of smoke rose over the rocks. Birds cawed in terror and fled. The squirrels and boar fled towards the beach. Kagome had all the youkai get to their feet, gather all they could of supplies and move towards the beach. The wind was moving the fire towards them with surprising speed. Sesshoumaru took up Shippo's mother onto his back, heading the line as they moved slowly through the rocks to the beach. Shouts, jeers, and calls reached her ears. The sound of rocks hitting the ground around her made her realize that the humans were coming before the fire to wipe them out. Panic gripped her.

"Shippo, help who you can. Get them moving. I will try to hold them off." Shippo looked at her in horror as she gripped a branch like a sword. "Go, hurry."

Shippo did as she bade him, running off to help a wounded man that was holding up the line.

Kagome smiled to herself, her eyes brimming with tears that she couldn't say good-bye to Sesshoumaru. Then she turned and made her way down the path back towards their assailants.


	7. Chapter 7

**

Sesshoumaru reached the beach first, scouting quickly with a glance, before leading the stream of youkai to a stretch of beach that reached into the lagoon before encircling the lagoon to give the island a small calm area of water. He set the kitsune onto the soft sand and unfurled the raft to create shade. He stuck four large posts into the ground and latched the raft onto them to create enough shade for most of the youkai. Their healing was working now that they had food, access to sunlight, and water, however, they were still too weak to do much else than heal.

His disgust for their weakness rose like bile in his stomach. He waited while the remaining youkai filed from the trees into their new sanctuary as the black smoke billowed from the island behind them. He watched as Shippo came, supporting an older youkai, but with a face so distraught Sesshoumaru's heart sank. He glanced through the youkai in search of Kagome.

"She stayed back to hold off the humans so we could get to safety," Shippo cried over the waves and the chatter of the people. Many youkai's eyes widened and they looked back towards the island when cries and screams met their ears. They shifted uneasily as Sesshoumaru stared at the trees. His feet felt like they had taken root to the sand. He couldn't move. His heart raced in his chest. He knew if he didn't move, she would die.

In a flash of rising sand, he was gone.

**

Kagome swung the branch like a baseball bat and smacked the guy in the temple. He fell into the rocks and laid without moving.

"C'mon then!" She cried, her eyes burning fiercely behind her bruised cheeks. A few people hesitated before coming at her, but then a woman screamed a battle cry and launched herself at Kagome. Kagome moved to swing the branch, but the woman tackled her to the ground. Pain ripped up her back and into her chest, as she rolled on the ground with the woman. They clawed at each other's faces, pulled hair, and slapped hard. Kagome finally got her knees under the woman and launched her away from herself. She got to her feet, coughing, blood spitting out of her mouth as she did so.

"She's hurt bad! Get her!" A voice cried. A few men attacked at once, causing her to back up against the rock. She growled as she swung the branch, catching the second one in the belly. The others jeered and laughed.  
"What a cute little growl!" They remarked, the third one grabbing her branch. Her lips pulled into a snarl as she pulled at the branch. They held on tight, so she let go, and it snapped back and caught the man in the lip, tearing it to show his top molars.

The other two men jumped on her, fists punching towards her, only to be thrown backwards with a snarling growl. Kagome looked up to find Sesshoumaru standing in front of her and the humans backing off.

"Sesshoumaru," his name left her lips in a breath, her heart thumping hard against her chest. He glanced back at her and saw blood dripping from her chin, trailing from her mouth. His face hardened, and his hand glowed green. The humans scattered, knowing his poison whip well. Left alone for the time being, he turned to her.

"You've kept your injury to yourself the entire time we've been here," he stated, wiping the blood from her mouth. It kept coming. Worry rose in him. He felt his lungs clench.

"That's why I elected to stay behind. I don't think I'll live long enough to be rescued," her voice came out as a whisper. "When the raft exploded under me, I think it broke my rib and pierced my lung. It's been slowly filling with blood ever since. I have no lung capacity, and it's harder and harder to breathe. My head swims from lack of oxygen." Her breathe came out in huffs. He gripped her arms.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He demanded, a look akin to panic in his eyes.

"I didn't want you to worry," she said softly, her limbs shaking. He picked her up, holding her close to his chest. Spears fell around him, followed by large rocks. He snarled at them, his breath coming out in sharp hisses. He turned and ran for the beach. The smoke was thick around them now, the fire raging in the trees around them.

"Just hold on, Kagome," he whispered as he ran. He took the wrong turn once, and had to back away from the fire. His nose burned and his eyes shed tears from the smoke. Or that's what he told himself. He irrupted onto the beach only to find a ship anchoring off the coast, the youkai flagging it down.

"A ship," he whispered. Kagome turned and looked, smiling.

"Good," she whispered. She held her hand to Sesshoumaru's face. "Sesshoumaru..." He looked down at her and saw how deathly pale she looked. "I think I've fallen in love with you on this island." His breath caught in this throat, his heart pause in it's beating, and his mind filled with the rush of oxygen. She smiled, her eyes looking so at peace. He took her hand in his, kneeling down in the sand. He kissed the back of her hand, golden eyes gazing into her deep blue oceans.

"Kagome..."


	8. Chapter 8

**

Sesshoumaru stood upon the deck of the boat talking to the captain. He had not hidden his Taiyoukai heritage, and the captain surprised him by showing that he was a seagull youkai. Most of the men on his ship were youkai as well. The humans that were rescued were being held down below deck in some of the rooms where they wouldn't cause any more problems. However, when they had spotted the ship, they had thrown down their weapons and ran towards it with arms raised. Sesshoumaru had carried Kagome aboard, Shippo close behind, and handed her to the ship's doctor who rushed her into the infirmary. After the rest of the youkai and humans were on board, the captain had asked whoever was in charge to step forward and explain what had happened. The youkai were silent, waiting for Sesshoumaru to do as bidden. He introduced himself and explained that they were all stranded on the island after their plane had crashed. He then was bade to talk on the radio to the coast guard, who would arrange for their arrival in Bergen, Norway. The trip would take three days.

Sesshoumaru's current conversation with the captain was on the health of Kagome. The doctor worried that her condition would worsen if they didn't get help immediately. Sesshoumaru was attempting to get his way onto the helicopter with her when it arrived. However, when the youkai heard that, they protested.

"You need to lead us, Sesshoumaru-sama," they said. He growled in frustration at them.

"Consider it in your minds as one would need to be with his mate," he stated to them. They hushed immediately, watching him with wide eyes. He had turned then and found Shippo standing before him.

"I'm coming too," he stated. Sesshoumaru's eyes softened.

"Kit, you must stay with your mother. She needs your attention. She is still badly wounded, although she is healing." Shippo's lip quivered.

"I don't want Kagome to forget about me," he whispered. Sesshoumaru knelt down before the kit. He placed his large hand on the boy's shoulder.

"She never will. I promise to contact you as soon as you reach land. I will be a part of your welcoming party." Shippo's eyes widened. "Besides," Sesshoumaru continued, "I need someone here to make sure these youkai stay together." Shippo's chest popped out as he stated he would do whatever in his power to retain order on the ship. Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement and stood. He made his way out of their midsts to the ship's infirmary.

**

The helicopter hovered above the desk as two skilled men strapped Kagome to the board and lifted her into the helicopter. Sesshoumaru had dawned his normal human appearance, bade farewell to those on board, and allowed himself to be taken aboard the helicopter. Kagome smiled faintly as he took her hand.

"Strap in," the soldier yelled over the sound of the engines and blades. Sesshoumaru cursed the fact he was flying again, and strapped himself into the chair. In less than 2 hours, they were landing on top of the hospital near the coast of Bergen, Norway. The doctors spoke some English, and, with little difficulty, Kagome was able to describe what hurt, while Sesshoumaru described what had happened and when. They rushed Kagome into the ER and escorted Sesshoumaru to a waiting room, where he made some phone calls to his business back home. He spoke to his secretary, who sounded so relieved to hear from him, he could feel his stomach fall to his toes. She was only so happy to hear from him when bad things were happening. With a heavy sigh, he explained where he has been, then ordered the private jet to fly into Bergen airport to pick up all those heading to Tokyo.

After he finished his phone calls, he sat in the hard plastic chair in the waiting room until a nurse came, carrying a bag and a tray of uncooked meat. Her eyes were slit like a cat's and, after a fanged smile, she left him a bag of new clothes and a pair of new leather shoes. He remembered her name to thank her for her generosity later.

He went into the bathroom and locked himself in. He devoured the meat with gusto, letting the blood run down his chin. When his hunger was filled, he washed his face off in the sink, letting the water run. He looked at himself in the mirror and was surprised at how thin and ghastly he looked. He tore off the tattered remains of the shirt he had been wearing and cringed to see his skin sunken in between his ribs. There was a fading bruise on his collar bone where the now dead human had struck him with a primitive version of an ax. He sneered at his image and washed his torso with soap (albeit hand soap), but soap nonetheless. He pulled his hair back into a pony tail at the base of his neck. His hair, which had been chopped about an inch or two from his skull before he left Japan, was now long enough to put in a pony tail. He rather liked the new look.

He ripped the tattered shirt off his torso, wincing at the sunken skin around his ribs. He pumped some hand soap from the container and used it to wash the months of dirt, sweat, and salt from his skin. Although it was hand soap, by god, it was soap!

He pulled on the white dress shirt, and buttoned it up. It was a little big, but he left that to his loss in weight. He pulled off the remains of his pants and threw them and the shirt into the garbage. He used the soap to clean once more, giving himself a somewhat fresher feel. At least there was no more sand in cracks or under things that should never be sandy.

He pulled on the trousers and shuttered to find them an inch too short and two sizes too big. He ignored it for the time being, as anything clean was better than what he's been wearing.

As he stepped from the bathroom with a hand on his pants, he forcefully wished for a belt.

**

"Mr. Taisho?" A male voice awoke him from his slumber slouched on the hard plastic chairs of the waiting room. He groaned lightly as he straightened his back. A loud pop resounded through the empty waiting room. He looked up with tired eyes. The doctor was human, but the intelligence shone through his brown eyes. Sesshoumaru couldn't stand yet, his back ached too badly.

"I am," Sesshoumaru stated as he stood, cracking a bit more.

"My name is Doctor Lars. My apologies for the chairs, we've been waiting for sponsorship to invest in more comfortable ones." The doctor hesitated in talking more. "It's about the young lady you came in with."

"I figured," he responded, cracking his neck before standing before him in a calm dignified pose. "How is she?"

"She has many wounds that she will not describe how she has come to acquire. Were you aware of the excessive bleeding in her vaginal passage?" Sesshoumaru's face paled as he shook his head.

"She was raped when we were on the island by one of the human survivors as other beat her with rocks and sticks," the shielded anger was cloaked in his words, yet the tone of his voice dropped to a deadly sped.

"That would explain the numerous wounds on her back and skull. How long ago did that happen?"

"A month and a half or so ago." The doctor stilled, his pen frozen on his page as he stared at it.

"A month and a half?"

"Maybe longer, it was hard to keep track of the time," Sesshoumaru's baritone voice was hushed by the reactions of the doctor.

"Hm... That explains some other things," the doctor mumbled to himself.

"Such as?"

"Doctor?" A woman called down the hallway, rushing on silent shoes. She conversed with him briefly in a language Sesshoumaru couldn't understand. He growled slightly as the doctor paled.

"I must attend to this..."

"Is it Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked, his hand gripping the doctor's robe. The doctor hesitated.

"She is bleeding worse now. I must attend to her."

"Can I do anything to help?" Sesshoumaru cringed at the desperation in his voice. The doctor paused, glancing at him.

"Pray." With that, he hurried down the hallway, putting on rubber gloves and talking to the nurse quickly as they went. Sesshoumaru stood rooted to the spot. Pray? Pray?! Anger built in him at being unable to help, at being separated from her. The neko youkai who had helped him earlier came to him.

"Lord, please come with me," she stated, eyes lowered in sign of submission to the Taiyoukai's anger. He drew his anger in, breathing deeply to calm himself. As he composed himself, the neko was talking softly.

"My name is Astra, I am of the Petra Feline clan. I was told to watch over you and help you attain whatever it was you may need. I am working with Doctor Lars asked me to take you to a closer waiting room to where they are operating on your friend,"

"Operating?"

"I was also told to give you our findings and discuss what has been done and what will be done to save her life." Sesshoumaru was silent to this. Astra could see the conflict in his eyes. She watched the golden orbs harden as he nodded.

"Lead the way."

**

Astra lead Sesshoumaru to a finely furnished waiting room where a TV was relaying stories of their ordeal and the ship on its way to Norway. He growled and flipped it off.

"Please sit," Astra said softly, motioning to a large over stuffed red chair. He plopped down into the chair without much thought to manners. She pulled a chart from her armpit and opened it.

"When you arrived, we assessed her injury as to what ailed her the most. Her hand, her lungs, her stomach."

"Her stomach?"

"She claimed her stomach started hurting on the ship, which we thought may have been a change of diet." Her calm answer reminded him to hold his tongue, not to blab out questions like a curious little pup. He shut his mouth in patience to hear the rest of the report.

"Her right hand had two broken fingers, the middle and the ring. Her palm also had some deep bruising from a vein that was partially severed, but repaired. Her back had mostly healed, although she will scar from the...sticks was it?" At his nod, she continued. "Most of the scars should fade with time, but a couple she will carry until she dies." She paused, flipping the page. "Her vaginal passage was cut and having difficulty healing. She said she was raped... do you know how they raped her?" The sound of ripping fabric had her eyes flashing to the male before her. His hands clenched the arm rests, claws digging into the fabric. Pity rose in her eyes at the distraught male before her.

"All I know is they attacked her from behind, as her front was relatively unharmed," Sesshoumaru stated softly, in more of a growl than spoken words.

"I should have asked..." Astra stated softly, holding the folder to her chest. "Is she your mate? I did not see a mark..."

"She is not my mate." The words came out with such sadness Astra felt her heart hitch in her throat. "Even if she were, humans have no concept of mates as we do." Astra felt an overwhelming pity for the man before her. She saw her fair share of distraught men and women, but he seemed to be troubled to his very core.

"Perhaps..." Astra said after a moment, "I could take you to her once she is out of surgery?"

"Why are they operating on her?"

"The bleeding inside her seems to be triggered from something further inside her. We fear they raped her with more than just body parts." Her words whispered out. Anger seeped into his eyes.

"It is best you show us her room," a feral voice growled from deep inside him.

"I'm afraid not," her haunches rose at the amount of energy poured from him. "My Lord, if you went to her, the smell of her blood would drive you mad. I keep you here for her safety as well as your own. If you attack, they will kill you both." The anger buffeted against her. She did her best to show her submission while attempting to calm him. Her ears twitched as the doors began to rattle with the strength of his aura.

"Lord, please, regain control of yourself," she begged. "Think of Kagome," she whispered. Sesshoumaru shut his eyes tight, the name ringing through his head. 'Kagome.'

He sat back down in the chair, not having realized he had been standing. He let a breath out, wondering how he fell so fast to lose his prized control so swiftly.

"She is pack..." He murmured. Astra straightened her hair as it had raised with the impending attack that never came.

"I understand, Lord,"

"Tell me of her lungs..." He murmured, eyes staring at the claw marks in the arm reset.

"She had cracked a rib and it tore her lung. Only one lung. She is in surgery to not only close any wounds within her vaginal passage, but also to see if we can find and mend the hole in her lung. Otherwise, we may have to remove the lung."

"Please leave me." Sesshoumaru growled, placing a pale hand to his brow. Without waiting for further prompting, she quit the room. Sesshoumaru battled against his anger. He wasn't even sure he killed the damned humans responsible. When he went to investigate their antics when he rescues the prisoners, he had killed about five of them, four of which were male. He went through every bit in his head, trying to find the scent that matched the male's he had smelt on his Kagome.

His...Kagome... His eyes blinked shut as he thought of her. He thought back to the sweater that had instigated his rude comments and their argument when they had first met. He thought back to her strong stroke as she swam to the lifeboat after she had flown almost a mile away into the water. He thought back to her slender shoulder against his as she slept against him in the raft. Of her smile as she talked with Shippo. Of her eyes, the sparkling deep blue oceans that shifted and changed color in her happiness where it seemed the sun shone upon the ripples of the tide in her eyes. He thought back to the courageous look in her eyes, the snarl upon her lips, as she fought the men to keep them from reaching the youkai. He felt the pride return as he had felt it at the time that there were four bodies laying on the ground, one man bleeding from his torn lip, and one woman clutching a bald spot on her head where a large chunk of hair was missing. All work of his brave little woman.

'She said she had fallen in love...with me..' he thought to himself. 'I thought that I would distance myself from her... and yet, I found myself ignoring her humanity in lue of her company.' He brought his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes. He felt so tired. More tired than he had been in a long time. He thought back to a time when he wasn't tired and thought about sitting beside her next to the fire their last night on the island. The way the fire illuminated her face and danced in her raven locks, it captivated him even in his memory. He shook his head as his phantom woman turned and looked at him in his mind.

'Sesshoumaru...' Her voice lulled him into a peaceful slumber.

**

"Mr. Taisho," a man's voice woke him for the second time, but, this time, his eyes opened from his curled spot on the red chair that he had maimed in his anger. He noticed Doctor Lars staring at the scratches.

"I will replace the chair," Sesshoumaru stated simply. The Doctor nodded before smiling slightly at him.

"She was asking for you," the Doctor smiled as Sesshoumaru stood quickly.

"Take me to her," was all Sesshoumaru said.

They walked in silence down the corridor to a single room with a solid wood door. There was a window into the room, but it was covered with a dark blue curtain. The Doctor opened the door and stood aside for Sesshoumaru to enter. The scent of medicine and bleach met his nose. He hesitated, suddenly nervous. Her laughter resounded in his head as his face hardened with resolve and he stepped into the room.

She was laying on a bed of white, her hair fanned out across the pillow like a black waterfall off the white ice. Her eyes flicked to him as he stepped into her view, and he saw how her face relaxed and her eyes brightened. All the pent up anger rushed from him at the sight.

"Hey," she said hoarsely. She motioned for him to come closer. He walked to the bed and sat on it's soft surface. "I was wondering what they did you with while I was in there."

"Doesn't matter," he brushed her wondering statement aside, "How are you?"

"I'm doing better," she said softly. She brought up her right hand which was now in a cast. "They fixed my hand... they had to re-break my fingers." Sesshoumaru cringed slightly. "It's okay, I wasn't awake for it. They induced me as soon as I had told them everything and I was in the ER." Sesshoumaru felt the tension between his shoulders lessen at that knowledge. She reached her left hand out to him, and he met it on her stomach. She flinched slightly in discomfort as the IV in her hand pulled.

"You should strive to avoid causing yourself more pain," he stated with a hint of a smile on his face as he pressed her hand back to her side.

"I feel like you've said that to be me before," she stated with a small smile.

"If you stopped hurting yourself, I wouldn't have to repeat myself." She smiled broader at the chastisement.

"I'll try harder, Sesshoumaru-sama," she said with a giggle. He growled slightly. Her smile faded as the door opened again. Sesshoumaru glanced over to see a nurse bringing in a tray of food.

"Oh, your husband?" The nurse asked, winking. Kagome blushed deeply.

"A very good friend, to whom I owe my life," Kagome responded, her eyes glowing as Sesshoumaru locked gazes with her. His face relaxed into a small smile before another person entered the room.

"Ah, good to see you have food," Doctor Lars said. "I would like to go over your charts for a brief moment before you eat," he stated. Kagome's face dropped, paling.

"Might as well. I'm afraid what you'd tell me will lessen my appetite, but at the same time, if I ate first, I'd probably purge it all out anyway." Sesshoumaru looked at her, worry filling his veins, though his face was as stoic as ever.

"The bleeding, we found was due to a miscarriage, not due to any other cuts further inside you." Kagome groaned softly, covering her face with her hands. Sesshoumaru placed his large hand over her knee, the other on her arm. "We also believe that is the source for your stomach ailments. As for your lungs, we believe we have found the source of the wound and we would like your permission to attempt to close it and remove the blood from your lungs."

Kagome swallowed hard. "How much will this all cost..." She asked softly. Bewilderment crossed Sesshoumaru's mind as she was nervous over the cost.

"No matter the cost," he said softly, "If it will help, I will pay for it." Kagome's head snapped to look up at him.

"Sesshoumaru..." Her voice seemed small. "I can't accept that.."

"You can and you will. I'll not have you die on me after all we've gone through. ... ... ... Shippo would never let me rest in peace if I did," he added after a moment. A small smile tugged on her lips and a small laugh came out of her mouth before she clasped a hand over her lips.

"No, he wouldn't... would he," she mused softly. Sesshoumaru looked up at the Doctor.

"Whatever the lady needs, you will see to it, and send every bill to me." The doctor nodded and left the room.

Kagome's hand enclosed around his, forcing him to look back at her. The love and gratitude in her eyes brought him deep into her soul.

"Thank you Sesshoumaru," she whispered, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing his palm. The hard ice in his eyes melted, and he smiled, moving to sit closer to her on the bed.

**


	9. Chapter 9

**

Three days past, and Sesshoumaru had met with the ship as it made berth at the Bergen Harbor. TV Crews and Journalists begged to interview him, however, he ignored them and made his way past. Shippo launched into Sesshoumaru's arms, as he hugged the kit, surprised at his own feeling for the pup. Shippo immediately asked about Kagome, who Sesshoumaru promised he could go visit as soon as they were set up at the hotel.

"She should be recovered enough to fly to Tokyo in two days," Sesshoumaru stated, "We will be leaving then."

"You're leaving us here?" Shippo asked, suddenly sad.

"Not at all." Sesshoumaru stated, sounding affronted. "Any who desire to fly to Tokyo will fly aboard my plane."

"Fly..." Shippo gulped.

"I have flown on that jet for the past 10 years. It has yet to fail me." Sesshoumaru told the kit with pride. Shippo's mother walked up to them, almost fully healed after the days of rest.

"I wanted to thank you for watching over my Shippo. I have lost his father, but I am glad to know I have my eldest and my others waiting at home in Tokyo."

"It was a pleasure," Sesshoumaru said with formal tones.

**

After all the survivors were set up in a hotel, bills covered by Sesshoumaru, he took Shippo to visit Kagome, who was so excited to see him, it surprised some of the nurses to hear squeals of laughter come from her room. Shippo's mother had come with, and watched with wide and surprised eyes as Shippo and Kagome talked like the oldest of friends. In Sesshoumaru's eyes, he was watching his family. He suddenly felt loss reach into his chest and grip his heart. He would have to say good-bye to them. He lowered his golden eyes at the sensation and looked out the window. He didn't notice Kagome looking at him.

"Sesshoumaru?" She asked softly. He turned and looked at her. The sadness in his eyes struck a cord within her chest as she smiled at him. "You wanna play?" She asked, gesturing to the card came set out on her lap. He shook his head.

"You two have fun," he said softly. Kagome nodded, and went back to her game. He resumed looking out the window. Kagome glanced at him again, and felt the pang of parting drawing near.

**

Two days later, Sesshoumaru's jet had landed in the airport and all the survivors who wanted to had loaded themselves onto the plane. Sesshoumaru arrived a bit later with Kagome in a wheelchair, and was overwhelmed as people started cheering. Kagome and Sesshoumaru looked around to find the hanger filled with people standing and applauding them. Kagome gripped Sesshoumaru's hand as she tried to smile at the large numbers of people wanting to share their congratulations and good tidings to them. Sesshoumaru pushed her through the throngs to the jet and helped her to her feet. She smiled to him as she made her way onto the plane, taking one last wave to the people before getting into the jet. She hid herself away from the windows until the door had shut.

"Well," Sesshoumaru stated, pulling a flower from his hair. "That was interesting." Kagome began to laugh, holding her chest as she did so. Sesshoumaru smiled to her and lead her to the front of the plane and to a spot beside Shippo and himself. The plane's engines turned on, rumbling as they warmed up. A voice came over the speaker and spoke in Japanese.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Taisho Air. I am your pilot, Mr. Himogeichi, and I would like to be the first to say we are honored you are on our plane today. Flight time to Japan is..."

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome spoke softly. He looked at her and saw her hand outstretched to him. He took her hand and kissed it lightly.

"No worries," he said softly, buckling them in.

**

A white haired man paced back and forth in the hanger's entry room. He had been waiting for almost thirty minutes since the plane landed and taxied into the hanger. He growled in frustration, his white dog ears flicking this way and that before a steady stream of people started to descend from the plane. He paused in his pacing to watch for his half-brother. His half-brother's arrival would ensure the stability for his normal life to resume. No more meetings or boring paper work. No more business suits or polite conversation laced with political jargon and idiosyncrasies. No, with the arrival of his brother, he could continue his life of partying, drinking, and sex. Lots and lots of Sex. Now that his dead-weight girlfriend was lost to sea, he now had a great sob story to ensnare one-night-stands.

As the flow of people ebbed, he saw the tall, slender form that was his half-brother. All of the things he was so eager to do seemed within reach, and then, his brother turned and helped a small, petite raven haired woman from the plane. The man's eyes furrowed in confusion as Sesshoumaru helped her down the stairs. He stared at her gentle hand on his arm and at the smile on her face. Sesshoumaru helped her into a wheelchair and wheeled her towards the room where the man was waiting. As they neared, the man's eyes widened in disbelief. He banged the door open, causing them to look at him.

"Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru and Kagome asked at the same time. Kagome felt her heart drop as the dog-eared boy looked at them in distrust.

"What the fuck?" He asked loudly. Kagome cringed.

"Watch your tongue, whelp, there is a lady present," Sesshoumaru stated as he wheeled Kagome past him into the hanger.

"No, I mean...You didn't say she was on your plane!" Inuyasha exclaimed, his voice near hysterics.

"You don't sound happy to see me, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. Sesshoumaru's eyes sharpened as something clicked.

"The idiot? You were dating Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked roughly.

"Yea. Since we were 16," Kagome responded, looking up at him. "Wait...He's your brother?"

"Half-brother," the two said in unison. Kagome paled.

"Oh God," She whispered, looking at her hands in her lap.

"What the fuck happened to you, Kagome? I thought you were dead!" Inuyasha demanded, in a harsher way than he intended. "What happened to your face?" The tone of voice he used in that question resembled that of disgust. He balked when Sesshoumaru growled at him.

"Be kind, it's been a long 6 months," he growled. Inuyasha's lip curled into a snarl.

"She's my woman," he stated. "Who are you to correct my behavior?"

"He's my savior," Kagome stated simply, breaking up a growling fight between the two. "I owe him my life. In accordance to youkai custom, that makes him have every right to correct whomever for whatever he deems with me." Her voice seemed soft, devoid of life. Sesshoumaru watched the top of her head as if it would give him a hint of what she was feeling. Truthfully, he was appalled that his mutt of a brother was the idiot that she had been in love with; whereas, at the same time, his mind reminded him that she had not mentioned her boyfriend since he made her angry in those first weeks. But he withdrew from her. If she had feelings for Inuyasha, did they...were they going to... how could she? He closed his eyes briefly as he continued to push her towards the limo awaiting them.

"To my home, shall we?" Sesshoumaru asked, his tone bored. "We shall divulge in the details there."

"My family," Kagome's voice quivered. The smell of salt permeated his nose, and he regretted bringing her back to Japan.

"Tell me their address, and I will send for them," he said softly. Inuyasha growled behind them, trying to figure out just what he was going to do now. Now that she was back, he would have someone to cook his meals, clean his laundry, and do his dishes...however, he would have to have a bit more stealth in his actions. Not once did it occur to him to ask why she was bandaged.

**

Inuyasha pouted, arms crossed over his chest, slouched in the leather seat of the limo as it moved through the city from the airport. Kagome was sitting, arm gently placed on the side of the limo, her face practically plastered on the window as she watched the buildings go by.

"Oh! My friend lived down there in high school," she said suddenly, pointing. Inuyasha scowled when she turned and pulled on Sesshoumaru's arm, asking him come see. His scowl deepened when his hand pressed lightly on her back as he looked out the window with the smallest smirk on his face. Anger rose in him at the thought his half-brother was doing it on purpose; as if to show that Kagome's favor had switched. His scowl turned into a snarl.

"Knock it off!" He finally growled. Kagome looked at him with surprise written all over her face.

"Knock what off? Being excited to see my home?" She asked as Sesshoumaru sat back with a smug look written across his eyes. Inuyasha growled at his brother.

"I was talking to him," he pouted. Kagome puffed out her cheeks.

"Grow up, will you?" She snapped. "You've been pouting since I got in the car. What? Do you think I'm going to rain on your parade or something?" She asked, shaking her hands at him. His eyes suddenly landed on her hand. She thrust her hands into her lap, looking away. Inuyasha's eyes darkened as he looked at Sesshoumaru with a snarl.

"Did you do that to her?" He accused. It was Sesshoumaru's turn to growl back at the insolent pup.

"How dare you." Inuyasha's head snapped to look at Kagome. Both males stopped their snarling and growling to stare at Kagome, who was shaking in anger. "How dare you think Sesshoumaru would ever hurt me. How dare you!" Sesshoumaru looked to Inuyasha, who had confusion rippling through his eyes. He opened his mouth to question her when Sesshoumaru shook his head.

"Enough." He stated. Inuyasha turned his head away, chastised.

Kagome leaned her head against Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "I'm so dizzy..."

"Driver, stop the car," Sesshoumaru ordered. The car slowed and pulled off the road. Without waiting, and ignoring Inuyasha's questions, Sesshoumaru opened his door and got out, holding out his hand for Kagome, who followed without question.

"Wait a second, what's going on?" Inuyasha yelled after them as the door was slammed behind them.

Kagome hugged herself, the city air feeling thick and unhealthy in comparison to the fresh ocean air. She held a hand against Sesshoumaru's arm as she stood, eyes shut to the city around her, trying to regain her bearings.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Sesshoumaru huffed.

"You will always be the bearer of inconvenience," he stated, although his tone was playful and not harmful. She smiled slightly as she swayed.

"I have been feeling sick since we descended in the plane, but I couldn't say anything with Inuyasha there..." she felt her tongue swell and restrict her speech. Sesshoumaru shifted uncomfortable as Inuyasha swung open the door.

"Did'cya puke?" Came his harsh rasp of a voice. Kagome's lips twisted into a frown and her jaw jutted out in a look of contempt.

"Get back in the car, you ass," she growled. Inuyasha growled back at her.

"Don't chyou call me an ass, bitch," he snarled.

"Enough," Sesshoumaru's single baritone word silenced both of them. "Are you feeling well enough to continue?" She nodded. "After you then," he said, leading her to the car. Inuyasha pulled his head back into the limo as she sat down and scooted in for Sesshoumaru. He signaled the driver, and they started off again.

"No more talking until we get home," he stated, putting a hand to the bridge of his nose, pressing to relieve the pressure built up there. Kagome eyed him in shame and worry, then faced out the window and was silent the rest of the ride. Inuyasha, on the other hand, huffed and puffed like a scolded child the entire 30 minute ride to the outskirts of Tokyo to Sesshoumaru's home.

**

Sesshoumaru's home was a moderate sized building constructed in the traditional Japanese fashion of open rooms and large sweeping roofs. Kagome smiled in appreciation for the architecture, as she had grown up on a shrine, and voiced her love of the architecture to Sesshoumaru.

"Thank you, I designed it," he stated simply as he made his way to his doorway. Kagome watched after him, thoughts and emotions swirling through her head. Inuyasha stopped by her side.

"I don't mean to be so rough," came his whispered apology. Kagome looked at him, noticing his lowered ears and eyes. The look had once melted her heart, but now, she found only a slight tingle of what had once made her swoon. She pat him on the arm and moved past him, an act that left him reeling. She never turned away from him before. His lips twisted into one of thought as he followed her into his half-brother's house.

"Oh wow," Kagome's voice came from a side room. Sesshoumaru was in the courtyard, seeing to a tree in the middle of a circle of sand. He held the leaf in silent reflection. Inuyasha looked to the side and saw Kagome admiring a long sword mounted on the wall. He jumped as Sesshoumaru appeared at his elbow.

"If we could continue into the courtyard, I can get some tea served."

"Tea..." Kagome's excited salivating over even the word had Inuyasha relaxing enough to smile. Sesshoumaru ushered them to a polished marble table with four polished stones surrounding it. He placed himself on one as Kagome and Inuyasha followed suit. A minute later, a short balding man waddled in carrying a tray of tea.

"Your servant, Jakken, has not left, Lord Sesshoumaru. Here is your tea, as you like it."

"I am pleased," he stated as Jakken set the tea on the table, "that you have tended the cherry tree in my absence." Jakken seemed flustered from the compliment as he hurried to leave his master's presence.

"Poor guy," Inuyasha muttered as Jakken hurried from the room, "never had a compliment in his life. He's probably going to go die in a corner now." He laughed rudely. Kagome's lips twisted into a frown, but she said nothing.

"Enough, Inuyasha. I will not tell you again," Sesshoumaru stated over his tea as he held it in his hands. He let the gentle aroma drift up to his nose. Inuyasha gaped to see them performing the same ritual without observing the other.

"You fuckin' twins or something?" He mumbled in a rough growl. Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru and saw him take a small sip of his tea before setting it down. She couldn't help but smell the heavenly aroma before sipping...perhaps he couldn't either.

"Dear Brother," Sesshoumaru's voice, although monotone, held a sharpness that resembled a figurative blade, "you will hold your tongue, lest I remove it from your face. As I'm sure it's escaped your simple mind, we," he stated, gesturing to Kagome and himself, "have been on an island without the niceties of modern Japanese life. Our diet has been primarily fish, roots, and berries, with the occasional boar meat. The only drink has been water. You will do well to be silent while, at least This Sesshoumaru, can finish his tea."

Inuyasha's mouth twisted, opening and shutting, as if he wanted to make a retort. He finished by folding his arms over his chest and turning his nose away, pouting without the lip hanging out. Kagome stared at him, wondering just how she ever thought him attractive. She gazed down at the swirling brown-green opaque liquid swirling in the white porcelain cup between her hands.

The next ten minutes or so were rather peaceful as she listened to the gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the branches of the cherry tree. She smiled as the soft scent of the cherry blossoms reached her, aside from the fact they were not in bloom. She imagined herself sitting in a very similar courtyard, wearing the finery of traditional samurai class women, and sipping tea as children played around her. She blinked, forcing herself from her thoughts. She was here to break ties with the fidgeting man before her, and she was imagining having children? Something must have broken her mind when she was on that island. Oh yea...

She felt her head swoon as if too much blood rushed through it. She placed a hand on her temple, only to realize Inuyasha was again asking questions. She tried to concentrate on him, but her head hurt so much. She concentrated on the tea instead, allowing Sesshoumaru to answer for her. She wondered how Shippo was doing...how her mother was...her brother... Her mind wandered far away from the courtyard where Inuyasha was interrogating Sesshoumaru about their ...vacation...

**

"The plane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean about three days from the Norwegian Harbor at Bergen. We lived through the winter in a crude tend made from the raft we had used to escape the wreckage of the plane. Kagome was injured when the plane crashed, but she did not say anything until we had been rescued," Sesshoumaru was saying. Inuyasha's soft golden eyes flicked over to the raven-hared woman who was staring at her tea as if it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen before in her life. He wondered why she didn't say anything. He wondered why he suddenly felt stronger for her than he had before...it was as if the feelings from their childhood had resurfaced.

Sesshoumaru continued giving his half-brother a very brief summary of their time on the island. He watched the emotions in the hanyou's eyes soften as he looked at Kagome. In return, his eyes hardened. He refused to look at her where she sat between them. Instead, he stared at his half-brother's twitching ear. It really was a disgusting appendage...

A soft sigh broke his focus and his eyes slid to look at the woman beside him, as if on their own. She had a hand to her forehead, as if she had a headache.

"Kagome," he blinked as she jumped at her name. She looked up, her eyes glossy.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, her voice deeper than it was before. She sounded exhausted.

"Would you care to lie down? The doctor said you should rest more during your first week home," Sesshoumaru cursed the worry that rose in his chest at the paleness of her skin. He cursed the small leap in his chest when she smiled at him...it was that smile that he liked to think was only reserved for him. Possessiveness rose in him; an urge to protect her from the idiot sitting across from him extended into almost a physical manifestation of emotion. He pushed it aside as she nodded.

"That would be nice. I didn't realize how tired I was," she said softly, pushing her long bangs from her face. Sesshoumaru turned his head, eyes searching the doorway where the small sulking frame of his servant would always hide.

"Jakken," he stated, the balding man hurrying into the room. "Please take Miss Higarashi to the guest bedroom and set her up to sleep." Jakken bowed and, after waiting for Kagome to stand, hurried from the room with her following.

Inuyasha's ears drooped as she left without a backwards glance.

"What's happened to her..?" Inuyasha asked when she was out of the room. "That's not the fun-loving, caring woman I knew."

"She is not the same, this is true, but she is still one of the most caring humans This Sesshoumaru's ever had the privilege to know." Inuyasha stared at his half-brother, anger rising in him.

"What is your deal?" He snapped. Sesshoumaru regarded with with shadowed eyes as he poured another cup of tea. "What do you want with Kagome?"

"This Sesshoumaru does not have to answer to you, whelp," he growled, his chest vibrating in a fashion that had Inuyasha's mouth closing of it's own accord. Sesshoumaru stared into his tea as he contemplated the question.

What did he want with her? She was human. He'd already looked aside from that... but his acceptance to her humanity was much easier on the island than in his business life in Tokyo. If he wanted to pursue any form of relationship with her... He sipped his tea slowly. She said she had fallen in love with him on the island... Had she only said that because she thought she was dying? Had she meant it? And what of her relationship with Inuyasha? Just the thought of it caused his aura to spike in anger. He didn't want to think she had ever done anything physical with the whelp, it was too disturbing! He sipped the tea again, the heated liquid coursing down his esophagus as a knock echoed from the front door. He set the cup down and stood.

"Stay here," he commanded to Inuyasha as he went to answer the door.

**

'What do I do now?' Kagome asked herself as she laid on the large bed in silken sheets. She turned over, her back aching from the softness. She had been laying there for almost a half an hour, without being able to get comfortable. She huffed, tossing the pillow off the bed and, dragging the top blanket with her, laid on the hardwood floor. She instantly felt better, her body more accustomed to the hard floor than the soft bed. She pulled an pillow towards her head and used the corner of it as her pillow. She sighed, thinking until she drifted off to sleep.

**

"Kagome?" A soft voice asked into the dark bedroom. She had been asleep for almost 3 hours, and her family was growing impatient to see their daughter. Sesshoumaru shut the door, his eyes adjusted to the dark of the room to see she was not on the bed. The sheets, however, were very oddly arranged and tapered to the far side of the bed. He fought down a smile as he looked on the other side of the bed and saw her curled against the side of the bed.

"Kagome," his baritone voice rumbled from his chest. She shivered, eyes opening. She looked up at him, eyes glazed from sleep. "Come, there will be more time for sleep later. You have visitors," he sat on the side of the bed when she didn't move. She stared off into the darkness of the room.

"Sesshoumaru..." She said softly, his name coming out in a husky murmur. He couldn't stop the tingle that ran up his spine at the way she said his name. He put a hand onto the bed beside him, as if to steady himself. "What are we going to do?" She asked the question so softly, he almost missed it behind the hard beat of his heart.

"You will come into the front room, have a meal with your family..."

"No, I don't mean tonight," she interrupted. She cringed, then sat up, her back pressed against the bed beside him, her heat permeating the trousers of his pants where she sat against him. He was silent for a while.

"I don't know," he stated tightly. She blinked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He was looking away from her.

"I'm sorry," she said softly before getting up and moving away from him. She turned her back to him, missing his arm twitch to move after her and put her back against his body. He curled his hand into a fist.

"You need to rest and recover. We need to make sure you are healed before anything else," he said as he stood. He turned from her and silently made his way to the door. Kagome was brushing her hair with her fingers. "Come." The single word had her turning towards him, seeing the gold of his eyes reflecting in the darkness. It made her shiver...but not from fear. She walked to him and found his pale hand reached out, palm up, for her. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her from the room.

**


	10. Chapter 10

**

Hours later, the sun had sunk long ago, and Kagome was drooping off to sleep rested against her mother's side in the limo headed back to their home. She had felt odd about leaving Sesshoumaru after having him near her for the last 6 months, but she shook it off. She had shook his hand before leaving, an awkward silence filling the space between them. She had looked back to find him staring at her with fire in his eyes as the limo drove off. She didn't see Inuyasha lurking in the shadows behind his taller half-brother. She had missed the murderous glaze over his eyes.

She smiled, her hand caressing her brother's hair as his head rested on her lap. She smiled at her mother, who was watching out the window. She smiled for the thought of being home. She smiled.

**

Sesshoumaru stood before the cherry tree in his courtyard, contemplating what to do next. He didn't really feel like going to work, however, he also knew he had to get to work to raise his business from the slums his shoddy half-brother had allowed them to wallow in. His thoughts, however, did not reside long on the idea of working. They quickly turned to the black-haired, ocean eyed mistress that had left only an hour ago. He felt his heart beat accelerate at the thought of the fire behind those ocean eyes when she looked at him from the limo when she left. He had known his half-brother was lurking in the shadows, and that the stench of anger and jealousy rose off him in heavy waves. He was surprised, even now, that he did nothing about it. Moreover, that he had requested his half-brother stay the night, out of courtesy. Inuyasha had stared at him, dumbfounded, until he walked away without waiting for an answer. He didn't know why he requested his idiot of a sibling to stay, however, part of him felt it was his way to protect what he now considered as his.

The image of her sun-tanned skin, the rose of her cheeks, the raspberry lips that parted in a brilliant smile to show off pearls of white...The sound of her laugh, the smell of her hair, the taste of her skin... He felt a strange emptiness in his chest as he moved away from the cherry tree to the room where she had resided, the smell of her still lingering. He sat beside the bed and wrapped the blankets around his waist and torso, breathing deeply to steady his still speeding pulse. He pressed his head back onto the bed behind him, breathing out ever so slowly.

"Kagome.."

**

Inuyasha paced in the room where he was residing while staying at his brother's. Half-brother's. He didn't know why the stoic ice prick wanted him to stay in his home overnight, but if he could start to unravel some of the mystery of what happened, he'd do it. After listening to Kagome's ordeal, and seeing some of the old Kagome he fell in love with around her parents, he had decided he wanted to keep her. He wanted to make her his wife, as was the plan from day one. He would have to get some help picking out a ring, and a place to live. Sure, he could have her live at his bachelor's pad, but he wanted to keep that to himself. There was no reason he couldn't have the girl he wanted and who would take care of him, while still keeping his side sluts and fucks. Right? Right.

He grinned to himself as he flopped onto the silk sheets of the fluffy futon he was to sleep in. Tomorrow would be a new day, and he would be one step closer to having everything he's always wanted.

**

Kagome walked down the steps of the shrine to the street below. She had been home in Tokyo for over a week and, after avoiding the swarms of camera crews and journalists who wanted to know what happened on the island, she was finally able to walk to the corner shop to buy noodles and beef. She wrapped her jacket around herself tighter, walking in the brisk wind around the corner. She moved around a couple who were walking, arm in arm. She clutched her purse to her chest as she thought of a certain silver haired man who held her thoughts. She blushed, pushing him from her thoughts as she walked into the little noddle house and chose a seat by the window. She was so excited to eat noodles cooked and smeared in oil, she was shaking from the excitement.

"Whaddya have?" the tall, thin, greasy waiter asked. Kagome stared at him, suddenly thinking her sinful pleasure was just turning into a pretty bad idea. She looked past him and wondered how she never realized this place was so filthy.

"Bottled water to go please," she murmured out, her hopes and dreams of beef noodles crashing before her like so much greasy walls and aprons. She paid for the bottle of water and made her way back onto the street. She figured to take a walk in the nearby park, as she missed the trees and smell of vegetation. She walked, sipping on her water, across the busy street and into the park where little kids were playing on the swings, their watchful parents nearby.

She watched them play, their innocence making her smile. She took a deep breath and smelled the trees, and she wondered what Sesshoumaru was doing. Her smile faded. She hadn't heard from Sesshoumaru all week. She knew he was a busy businessman, but she wondered about him. She worried about him. She wondered if he thought about her. She smiled, shaking her head. Probably not. To him, she was just a human... but then again... Then again... She looked at her hand...the one he kissed when he thought she was going to die. Was the emotion in his eyes because he didn't want her to die, or because he thought she was?

She's asked herself these questions since she was put into the infirmary on the ship when they were rescued. She had run through the scenarios in her head, run the numbers, and ended with her heart pumping the same answer every time. He didn't want her to die. When she said she had fallen in love with him, his eyes had softened, and she could feel his aura tingle. That hadn't been her imagination. She reached into her pocket and fished out her cell phone. She flipped it open and hit the send button. Sesshoumaru's number flashed on the screen. She shut the phone before it connected. No. Don't call. She opened her phone again. She wanted to call... Just to see how he was doing.. She shut the phone again.

"Yesh, Kagome," she mumbled to herself. "Stop acting like a high schooler with a crush." She shoved her phone back into her pocket. "This is ridiculous." She stomped across the grass to a bench and sat down with a huff. "Why am I so worked up over him?" Her mind was reeling, her thoughts colliding with her emotions. She wanted to run. She wanted to call him. She wanted to scream. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. She wanted to lay down and sleep. She wanted to jump up and down. She wanted to roll through the grass like a child. She bit her bottom lip wondering why she felt all these things.

'You're in love,' a voice whispered through the chaos of her mind. The words echoed through the now silent stillness of her mind. 'You're in love.'

"I'm in love.." the words sounded foreign on her lips. She put her hand to her lips and found she was grinning like a fool. She covered her lips with her hand, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. She had told him she thought she had fallen in love with him, but now, being apart from him, she realized how honest she had been; with herself and with him. She brushed her fingertips over her lips.

With a determined glint in her eye, she dug out her cell phone and opened it. She pressed send and held it to her ear. She would call him. She would talk to him. And she would invite him to lunch or dinner or brunch, or something, and she would talk to him. She would tell him her feelings, and she would hope he wouldn't reject her.

"Taisho Sesshoumaru," a tired, stoic voice came over the receiver. She froze. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. "Hello?" His voice sounded irritated.

"Hey!" She squeaked out. She blushed a vibrant red.

"Who is this? How did you get this number?" He sounded irate going on angry. She blushed harder.

"Sesshoumaru, It's Kagome," she hated how squeaky her voice sounded. She cleared her throat.

"Kagome?" She could hear the surprise in his voice.

"Yea, I wanted to know how you were doing," she asked, her voice back to normal. He was silent for a moment.

"Working. I've been working," he said after a moment. There was an edge to his voice.

"I figured...I was calling," she hesitated, taking in a deep breath, face turning all the more red, "I wanted to know if you wanted to join me for dinner, or lunch, or something. I just.." she could feel her face redden even more, "I missed talking with you." He was silent on the other end. She fumbled with the edge of her shirt. He was still silent.

"If not, that's okay," she stared to slur out a scapegoat, her face paling.

"Are you free now?" He interrupted. She stopped.

"Yes," she croaked out.

"Can I pick you up at your home?" He asked. She nodded.

"Of course," she responded, trying not to sound too excited.

"Hn. It's," he paused, "1:35. I will be there at 2."

"I will be ready." They hung up moments later, and Kagome sat still on the bench. She giggled out loud before clamping a hand over her mouth. She twitched. She stood up slowly. With a deep breath, she took off running back to the shrine where she could change out of the scrubby clothes and into something suitable for lunch with Sesshoumaru.

**

Sesshoumaru stared at his phone before setting it on the desk before him. The piles of paper that had once caused chaos across the redwood finish were now arranged in the 'finished' bin. He had finished all the the filing, the signing, the approving, denying, and fixing of the mistakes Inuyasha had made, forgotten, or ignored. He had spent the entire morning staring at his desk thinking about his time on the island. He had thought about Kagome and Shippo, and he found himself missing them both. He missed the kit, and his insatiable questioning. He missed Kagome and her kind, patient answering. He missed the simple routine they had gotten fond of: the searching for food, the cooking over the open flame, the fishing, the sleeping under the stars... He missed the constant presence of the two he had come to think of as pack...

Suddenly, his phone had rang. He had stared at it, as if it was some weird creature he'd never seen before. He had picked it up and pressed the answer key. He hadn't recognized the phone number, but, for some reason, that didn't bother him. When no one answered at first, he was sure it was a prank. Probably Inuyasha. But when her voice rang over the line, his heart had paused, his breath had hitched. She sounded nervous and worried. He wanted to dive through the phone and be at her side. His inner dog demanded him meet with his pack member and find out what was troubling her.

And then, she said she missed him. Him. The stoic, ice prince of a dog demon, un-swayed by emotions and women alike, was missed by this beautiful young woman. He found himself without words. He opened his mouth once or twice, especially when he realized she was asking him on a date...if one could call it that. Which he did. Very much.

Realization struck him when he heard her start to slur a response to his silence, when his voice suddenly worked.

"Are you free now?" Sesshoumaru had blinked at his own words. Her voice had responded in surprise, but the hint of excitement was not lost to his ears. He found the corners of his lips twitch at the mere excitement she held at the thought of seeing him. He found himself filling with pride, with emotion, with fear.

When he had hung up, he had stared at his phone before setting it on the desk. He had wondered why the pit of his stomach had dropped to his toes and why a cold sweat had broken across his brow. He felt sick as he realized that he, Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands, Stoic Ice Prince, Man of the frozen heart, was nervous. Nervous of meeting a human woman within the next half an hour.

**

Kagome pulled the scrunchies around the bottom of her braid and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was amazed she had pulled off a total make-over in just under 25 minutes. The girl that looked back at her in the mirror did not look anything like the Kagome that had run into the room in sweats and a t-shirt only a few moments before. Instead, a raven haired beauty stared back at her, her cheeks glowing red, her ocean eyes sparking like the milky way, and her porcelain skin hidden by a simple blue sunflower dress. She wore heeled shoes with black laces that wove up her slender calves like Athenian shoes. She smiled at herself in the mirror and strung her purse over her shoulder. She cringed when she saw the bruises from the operation peek out from under her dress when she moved her arms. She pulled on a crochet sweater her mother had made for her and then smiled.

She ran down the stairs of the shrine, careful not to fall, and slowed to a walk when she reached the bottom. There, a black limo stretched up the street. She blinked, putting a hand to her skirt as the wind blew by, ocean eyes searching for the golden suns she wished to see more than anything.

Sesshoumaru sat, staring out the window as she ran down the steps in the heels that looked like she was going to keel over and fall the remainder of the steps. But, by the kami, she looked gorgeous. Her hair was swept back into a braid that made her look humble and beautiful. The way her dress swept to the side in the breeze had his heart catch in his throat. He had no idea any woman could make a man feel as he did at that moment. He took in a deep breath and opened the door.

**

"So what exactly do you do?" Kagome asked, the warmth of her coffee seeping through her hands. They had come to a little secluded cafe not far from her home, and he had lead them to a small table for two in the back of the room. They had ordered coffee and sandwiches, and had spent the last couple of minutes sitting in silence until the waitress brought them coffee.

"I am the owner of a financial firm and a technology development company. But mostly, I fill out paperwork, attend meetings, and approve the work of others." Kagome laughed at that.

"Sounds up my alley," she smiled, "I was going to start work in a lawer's firm in Osaka a week after I had arrived home. I called them and, since they heard I was dead, filled the position. Now, I need to find another job related to being a lawyer, though I have only minimal experience. As of right now, I tend to my family's shrine and create little trinkets that people can buy during festivals and when they visit." Sesshoumaru took a sip of his coffee as he listened.

"I didn't know you were a lawyer. You don't act like one," he observed. She blushed.

"I've been told. I guess I haven't been in the business long enough to act like one. My professor told me I still act like a college student, or a teacher."

"You should be a teacher," he stated, "you'd be good at it." She blushed.

"Doesn't make enough money. I have to support my entire family. A teacher's salary in Tokyo is barely enough to live on for one person."

"In the public sector, yes. In the private, no. If you get into the right school, you'll be set for life." Sesshoumaru sat back as the waitress dropped off their plates of sandwiches. He knew this was idle chitchat, and he normally hated it... he was loathe to admit it was nice with her. It was...dare he say...comfortable.

"I have half of the credits I'd need to be a teacher, but when I was in school," she said after swallowing a bite of sandwich, "My mother was diagnosed with leukemia, and my grandfather's cancer came back. If I hadn't gotten the scholarship to study in America, I would be working three jobs here trying to cover the bills. It's bad enough my little brother has been working so much and avoiding college just to make ends meet. We were hoping for the job I was going to get in Osaka to be able to relax some." She smiled sadly. "But we didn't come here to talk about me..."

"I thought we did," he mused quietly, baiting her. She blushed. She really was beautiful when she blushed. "This Sesshoumaru's life is not that interesting. Yours seems to be full of reality. Please continue."

"Reality? My life is happy enough, I guess, but why do you call it reality?"

"Demons have no illness; their families die when they their lives are up. I work all day, go home, and sleep. There is not much to tell other than the mundane idiosyncrasies of the office."

"Is your family dead, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked quietly, her sandwich forgotten in her plate.

"Both parents, yes. Half-brother, if you recall, is alive and kicking." She rolled her eyes at that. "However," he continued. He paused, though, wondering if he should say what was rolling through his brain, he wondered if it were wise. "I have never considered them family outside the blood relation. They've been blood pack, but not family." Kagome was silent for a moment.

"I can't imagine feeling only the civil responsibility for my family...that it is my duty as their kin to take care of them. I've always loved them. They are my family." She reached across the table and gently pressed her fingertips to his hand. "I'm sorry you didn't feel close to them."

"What I felt was irrelevant. I was to be Lord of the West, which I am today. Emotional ties had nothing to do with the political ones that held our power together. That is why I was sired and raised. My father's mistress was whom he really desired, though, according to law in feudal Japan, no demon could mate a human." He wondered why he divulged in such treacherous information with her. The scandalous information, if it were to get out, would weaken the ties he had with his mother's clans. It would stain his reputation as a businessman and a taiyoukai. He couldn't have that....so why was he telling her? What was it about her that gave him a loose tongue?

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome's voice brought him from his thoughts. She looked sad.

"So what now?" He found the words had left him before he could stop them. Her hand retracted from his. He found himself missing the soft touch of her fingers.

"Between us...? Our friendship?"

"Is it a friendship?" To his ears, he sounded unsure. But the way her eyes darkened, he must have sounded normally stoic.

"What are you implying?" She asked, the pain etched in her eyes hurt him. He had to find time to think. He thought about her enough, but, at the same time, he wondered what her life would be like with him.

"Nothing," he stated softly, his face relaxing from it's rigid appearance. He watched confusion flit through her eyes before they became guarded. "Kagome, you must understand," his voice dropped, the words coming out in almost a vibration instead of the actual words, in case someone was listening. "I am not used to regarding anyone outside blood relations as pack."

"Oh," the single syllable was out of her in a breath as the understanding sunk in. "You're not pushing me away..." her words came out in a breathless whisper. He shook his head.

"I must think more before I can answer you," he said softly. She nodded, her eyes bright.

"Will you keep in touch with me? So I know you're okay?" She blushed. "I'm not used to not having you around. You and Shippo have become my entire world for the last 6 months. I couldn't bear not having contact with either of you..."

"Of course, Kagome."

**

Kagome stood waiting on the street corner beside a park on the other side of Tokyo. She held a small bundle in her arms as she looked up the street. Where was he? She pulled out her cell phone to check the time when a small voice cried out:

"BOO!" She jumped, turning towards the voice. A bright red-haired boy stood before her, grinning with all the happiness a child could smile with.

"Shippo!" She cried out, stooping down and hugging him. He laughed and hugged her back. "You scared me! I didn't even hear you walk up!" Shippo grinned proudly.

"I didn't want you to hear me! I'm practicing!" Kagome laughed. She held out the bundle for him.

"These are for you," she said. Shippo looked at her in confusion.

"What is it?" He asked. Kagome laughed and shook it in her hands.

"Just open it!" He took it from her, and took the blanket wrapping off it. A duffel bag filled with history books were revealed to his widening green eyes.

"Kagome.."

"Since I won't be there to tell you bedtime stories anymore. These are my history books. I want you to have them." Shippo jumped into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"I still want you with me," Shippo said softly, hugging her. "Just because you give me these books, doesn't mean you can stop seeing me!"

"Shippo! I would never!" Kagome hugged him tight. "You're the son I'll never have."

"Kagome-okaa-san," he nuzzled his nose in her shoulder. "Thank you."

**

Sesshoumaru sat at his desk, wondering, thinking, and contemplating. He wondered when he began to trust her with his entire existence. He wondered when he developed this need to have her nearby. Was it routine? Was it something more? When did he allow himself to fall so freely with the first woman he spent such intimate living space with him? Was it because of their predicament? Was it because she was the only female who wasn't leaping at his pants or money? Was it because she cooked him meals, gave him company, and talked about things on the island as if they weren't going to get off—but planning to plant a garden, built a hut, create a life living on the island even if they couldn't get rescued?

When did he realize he had to think through every reaction, every smile, and every word she spoke that could have some other meaning or flaw that he could exploit to get away? When did he become such a coward? He growled at his thoughts. Since when did it matter who he loved and why he loved her?

He blinked. Did he love her? Could he love her? Was he capable of love? Everything seemed so much more possible on the island. He wanted to love her, to live with her, to be her companion. But here in Tokyo, there were so many limits, restrictions, and gossip to take into account for... since when did the powerful taiyoukai of the west begin to fear the gossip of lower beings? They were not worth his time nor his worry. He growled at himself.

'You're making it more difficult than it should be,' a voice growled in his mind. 'Stop making excuses.'

"This Sesshoumaru doesn't make excuses." He realized he had dug his claws into the wood of his desk. With a small sigh, he retracted his claws and surveyed the damage of the desk. He admitted, ever so softly, that he was... and he was because he was afraid. Afraid of loving someone that could die so easily. He wanted to make her immortal, to live with her until the end of their days, but there was no answer for human longevity. It was as short as it was, and nothing could change it. Was it worth it? Living with her for only 60 years or so...watching her grow old...watching her die? Was it worth it to live without her until he reached his end? Was it worth it to spend every day from now until then with her?

He stood up, his answer burning in his head. He grabbed his coat on his way out the door.

**

Kagome sung from a swing hanging in the park near her home. She was wearing a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Normal everyday clothes. She wasn't expecting to talk with anyone. She had received word that her mother was getting worse, and she was denied a job at a local firm. She wondered why she had been forced onto that island for so long. The only thing that made it easier was that her mother was still alive. She thought of how life had been on the island, and Sesshoumaru's face appeared in her head. She smiled. Maybe she was sent to the island because she was meant to meet him...meant to fall in love with him... She smiled broader, looking at her knees as she swung very slowly.

She wondered what he was doing. She wondered if he was happy. She wondered if she was happy... She remembered the small smile that adorned his beautiful face when he came into her hospital room after her surgery. She had smiled at him, reaching for his hand...he had come to her, sitting beside her only like a lover does. She remembered his soft lips on her hand, his baritone voice...

"Kagome?" She jumped, looking up. There, clad in his black business suit, silver hair tied back into a pony tail at the nape of his neck, his golden eyes... oh my. His golden eyes were shining so brightly, so passionately, it was as if the suns had split between his two orbs. She opened her mouth, moving to stand.

"Sesshoumaru?" She asked softly, vaguely aware of the other people around the park looking their way.

"Kagome..." He murmured, coming to her, he stopped before her, a breath between them. "I don't want to be without you. These last weeks being back in Tokyo have been more miserable than being on that island... The time I spent on that island was the happiest in my memory...not because of the nature, the ocean, or the quiet...but because of the company. I've never spent much time with anyone; I've never wanted to...but you... you make me want to seek out your company." He quieted, hands grasping hers lightly. She could feel her face glowing as she lifted her chin, going up on tip toes, and kissed his lips.

He released her hands, arms encircling her, hugging her close as their lips continued their kiss. Her hands wound up onto his shoulders, gripping him for all she was worth. She was faintly aware of people cheering around them, although the blood was rushing in her ears, and she could have mistaken that rush as cheering. When they broke from their kiss, their bodies were molded against each other's, arms encircling and grasping.

"I meant it..." she whispered to him as his nose gently rubbed against hers. His golden suns bore into her brightly shining oceans. "I did fall in love with you on that island..."

"I've realized," he said as he kissed the corners of her lips, "That I had fallen in love with you, as well, Kagome..." Their lips met again, lashes and lids hiding the bright shining sun and ocean from the world as they concentrated only on the gentle waft of breath, the feel of skin, and the electricity shooting through their lips.

**


	11. Chapter 11

**

"Okay boys! This is the moment! Get the video running!" The silver haired, yellow eyed man paced back in forth, his tux in pristine condition. He brushed his hands down his front, across his hair, and over his ears.

"Inuyasha-sama," a little flea youkai said, hopping on his shoulder. "The cameras are ready for you to go propose to the lady." The journalists held their cameras at the ready as he walked to the front door and knocked. A cry of 'I got it mama' reached his ears, and he held his chest out proudly. The door opened to Kagome, hair in rollers, a button up blouse that was open below and above her bust with only two buttons done, and sweat pants with little bunnies all over it. She paled when the bulbs started flashing around her.

"What the?"

"Higarashi Kagome," Inuyasha said, bending down on one knee. Kagome gaped at him, eyes wide. "Will you be my wife?"

He opened the velvet box before her, holding it up to her. She stared at him. Her mouth opened and shut.

"Look, she's so surprised, she can't even talk!" A journalist said. She flushed red. Then she slammed the door in his face.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock. He stared at it as the bulbs kept going off. He stared as the anger built up in him. How dare she? He stood, swiping at the journalists.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" He snarled, before letting himself into the house.

**

Sesshoumaru stood before the mirror, staring at his reflection. He was wearing a nice green dress shirt and black slacks. No boring suit, white shirt and tie...a colored shirt and comfortable pants for their date of dinner and a walk through the park, where the air wasn't so foul. He smiled in a cocky sort of way.

The sound of small padding feet met his ears as he heard the approach of his servant. The balding man knelt by the door to his bedroom.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," he said, "there is a woman here to see you." Sesshoumaru's eyebrows furrowed in between his eyes. He was going to pick Kagome up later...who would be here now? He left his room, shutting the door behind him and made his way down the hallway to the front entry room. His nose twitched, recognizing a familiar smell as he approached. His eyes narrowed as he drew nearer.

He stepped into the room to find a woman with long black hair tied into a high pony tail wearing tight black clothing. He snarled when she turned around.

"Sango.."

"Hello, Sesshoumaru," she said as she lunged at him, sword drawn.

**

Kagome stared at Inuyasha as he stood fuming in her doorway. She growled at him, a good impersonation of a inubitch.

"What do you think you're doing proposing to me in such a way!? If I was even going to marry you, I'd still have slammed the door in your face for such a proposal!"

"What the fuck do you mean, IF?" He snarled, slamming his hand against the door frame. The house shook.

"I have barely seen you in the month I've been home! And you pop the question? What the hell? What made you think I'd say yes?" She was fuming, firstly at being made a fool of, and secondly, because the idiot before her thought she still wanted to marry him. True, however, she hadn't told him they were finished, she only assumed that by not talking to him in a month, he'd realize they were through.

"You were all set to marry me when you got home when we last talked before you left America," he said, his ears drooping, his anger fading.

"That was 7 months ago," she said exasperated. "When I was on that island, I tried to think of the last time we were happy... and I couldn't find it. Not in the last two years, at least. Inuyasha, you can't tell me that you were happy, that you are happy."

"No... I wasn't... but now you're back. I can be happy again." He moved towards her.

"No, Inuyasha," she said, holding her hand up. "This is not right. I am not in love with you as a woman should be with a man. I'm sorry, but I don't know if I ever was in love with you. I love you, yes," she continued as his ears disappeared into his hair, "but not as a lover or husband. I mean, c'mon, we only tried to have sex once, and it ended disastrously. I couldn't get turned on enough, and after too much coaxing, we just...watched a movie instead." He shook his head.

"I just thought... that you were the first one to love me for being me... so I wanted to keep you by my side, always...no matter what. But when I thought you were dead... I was sad at first, but then, I'm sorry to say, I was relieved..." He flinched before the books impacted, or the fists punched, but neither came. He looked at her to see her smiling slightly.

"You know... I was feeling the same way on the island. Relieved for not seeing you, for not having to feign happiness." They both relaxed. "When did we fall out of love like this?"

"Probably when you got into college and you grew up...and I stayed here and stayed the same," Inuyasha smiled.

"Are we still friends then?" Kagome asked softly after a moment. A curler fell from her hair, leaving behind a curled strand of raven colored hair.

"Still friends..." Inuyasha said, nodding his head. They were both silent for a moment before Inuyasha shifted uneasily. "Is it Sesshoumaru?" Kagome blanched. "It is, isn't it? I noticed since you got off the flight; how gentle he was to you, how kind. He was never like that with any other woman. You know, he went to check on you twice when you were sleeping that first day. And, although I didn't want to see it, I saw the affection. He sees you as pack, you know. He barely ever saw me as pack, and I'm blood relation." He laughed bitterly. "He'll take care of you, though, Kagome." His yellow eyes bore into her shining oceans. "When he loves something, he will protect it and cherish it. It's the inu way. You'll never feel unwanted or unloved, if he sees you as a soul mate." Kagome could do nothing but nod. He opened his arms for her and hugged her to him.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," she whispered as he released her.

"Keh. Now I have a good story to get women with!" He stated loudly. Kagome laughed and hit him on the shoulder.

**

Sesshoumaru stepped to the side, shoulder sliding back, allowing the sword to pass by with ease. He gripped her arm as she went by and tightened his grip, pulling her through the motion and into the wall. She landed with a thud and a crunch as her arm cracked. She cried out in pain.

"Listen here, human," he snarled, "Enough is enough. I should kill your for trespassing and attempted murder."

"You vile beast, you deserve death for corrupting poor Kagome!"

"Your people raped her and impregnated her, and left her for death," he snarled, spittle hitting her cheek. She paled, stilling. "You call my care corruption? You have betrayed your own kind by turning into animals when the situation seemed dire...where she upheld the greatest traits of any species by surviving and adapting." Her arm snapped again, causing her to yelp in pain. "You will be arrested and tried for trespassing and attempted murder on two accounts, as well as conspiracy for murder, rape, and assault with deadly weapons. I will press charges, and the outcome will not be pretty."

"Burn in hell, demon," she spat. He released her arm and thrust her to the ground. She landed, cradling her broken arm.

"Jakken," he said, turning his back on the weaponless woman, "call the police. Inform them that there is a trespasser who attempted to murder me."

"Attempted nothing," she yelled as the gun in her hand screamed three rounds.

**


	12. Chapter 12

**

As the taxi pulled up in front of Sesshoumaru's house, Kagome balked at the number of police cars and ambulances with their flashing lights. When Jakken had called her, she had felt the pit of her stomach drop out. He had said something had happened to Sesshoumaru, and she should come over right away. She paid the taxi driver, hopping out of the vehicle, pulling her sweater tighter over her body, her hair beautifully curling around her face, her blue eyes wide with worry. She hurried forward.

A policeman stopped her, barring the way.

"I'm sorry miss, you can't cross that line," he said.

"My boyfriend...Sesshoumaru," she gasped out, "Jakken called me." The policeman's eyes widened. He looked her over. All youkai hid themselves, he knew this, but she looked entirely human. Ah well, to each his own. The officer nodded.

"Follow me, miss," he said kindly and lead her towards the house. They passed policemen talking, their faces grim. Kagome's heart thundered with every step. Jakken hadn't said what had happened, and with all these policemen, she was at a near panic.

She passed an ambulance where they were loading a person on a stretcher into it. The person was tied up with a bag over their head. Kagome could tell they were female and covered in blood. Her heart stopped in her throat.

The policeman opened the door for her, and she entered the entry room, seeing blood splattered all over the white walls and wooden floor. She put a hand to her mouth. It smelt like gunpowder and old blood.

"This way," he said, leading her towards the room where she had met with her family the first night back in Tokyo. They passed more police officers and detectives. The officer held his hand out for her to pass him into the room. She entered the room, her face pale, her body in a cold sweat.

There he sat, on a stool, shirtless, with a medic wrapping bandages around his chest. His eyes were fixed on her. He had smelt her coming.

"Sesshoumaru.." she whispered, drawing the attention of only those nearest. She stepped to him, dropping to her knees beside him. "What happened?" Her hands perched on his thigh. He reached a hand up and ran it through her curled hair, cupping her head. He said nothing, his golden eyes shining brightly.

"Sango shot me."

"What?!" That time, she had the entire room turning towards her.

"She can't be in here," an officer said.

"She can, and she will stay." Sesshoumaru's voice carried more authority than the others in the room. They nodded, lips pulled tight. They continued to write their reports. The medic who was wrapping Sesshoumaru stood.

"All done," he said. "You can take them off tomorrow. You should be well by then, Sesshoumaru-sama." Sesshoumaru nodded, his eyes never leaving Kagome's face.

"Please, explain..." She whispered, still shaking.

"Are you cold?" he asked, wiping sweat from her brow. She shook her head.

"I was so scared. Jakken just said something happened to you, and to come over right away... and when I got here, all the police cars, the lights, the person on the stretcher... so much blood, Sesshoumaru..." His hand caressed her lightly.

"Sango came here to kill me. She shot me in the back three times after attempting to stab me with my own sword. She won't be walking, writing, or thinking too much in the next 50 years." A feral look crossed his eye, and Kagome found herself thanking the stars he didn't see her as an enemy. She pressed a hand to his cheek.

"How do you feel?" She asked softly. He pressed his hand over hers, his eyes shining.

"I'll be fine," he murmured out. Kagome leaned into him and kissed his lips. He blinked, surprised at her openness, but held her close with his other hand. When they parted, she was blushing but smiling.

"Ahem," a voice said beside them. Sesshoumaru glanced up at the man. The room had emptied. "We'll be leaving now. You will receive a copy of the report in your office tomorrow morning. One of the officers will drop it off, Taisho-sama." Sesshoumaru nodded as the detective left. Kagome smiled more broadly at him as his eyes fell back upon her face.

"Well... this puts a damper on our plans for this evening," he murmured, brushing her hair behind her ear. "But I must say, woman, you look beautiful." She blushed harder and leaned in to kiss him again.

**

Two years later...

Kagome sat in the courtyard of their home, the cherry tree in full blossom, giving off a beautifully peaceful smell. She smiled as she worked on the little crochet blanket for the pups inside her growing stomach. She grinned as the smell of tea met her nose as Jakken, in his normal form of a little green toad, waddled out carrying a tray with tea on it.

"Milady, your afternoon tea," he said softly, setting it on the table. He was wearing a small metal pinned to his shirt, and Kagome grinned at it. Apparently, when Sesshoumaru was shot two years ago, the little youkai had pinned Sango to the wall after Sesshoumaru had broken her legs and other arm, as well as a few other things. For his actions, the police had awarded him a small metal that he wore constantly with pride. Kagome constantly told him how honorable it made him look, causing his little toad chest to puff out with pride. He wouldn't say it, but he liked the mate his lord had taken...even if she was a filthy human.

Kagome thanked him for the tea, setting her crochet blanket down in her smaller lap. She put a hand to her belly, waiting patiently for the time when they would begin to kick. She smiled motherly to think she had twins. She felt proud to be able to carry Sesshoumaru's pups and, at the same time, that he had accepted her so easily into his home, bed, and life. She glanced at the thing gold watch around her wrist, a gift for their first year anniversary only a couple of months ago.

After their ordeal on the island, they had begun dating the month they returned. Six months later, he proposed. Six more months later, they were married. Their wedding night was the most passionate and romantic memory in her mind to date, and she often blushed at the many things they did to each other that night and almost every night since. She had laughed outright when the doctors had pronounced her with pup, and Sesshoumaru had held her tightly, smiling into her neck where she could feel it and no one could see.

She was now on maternity leave for the next six months from her job as a lawyer for Sesshoumaru's firm. She was paid enough to have the proper care for her mother and grandfather, and supported her brother through college. He was in his first year at Tokyo University aiming to be a doctor. Her mother was doing better, and her grandfather was no longer in as much pain as he had been before. She was happy living with her husband and mate in his home. She was glad for all the things that had happened on the island, even the horrible, terrible things, because it brought her closer to Sesshoumaru... and she wouldn't trade anything for what she had now.

The door from the front entryway slid open, causing her eyes to look up from her tea. She smiled lovingly as her husband walked towards her.

"You've gotten far with that," he said softly, stooping down to kiss her, resting his hand on her growing belly. She murmured a hello into his lips before he kissed her neck and forehead.

"Just because you have money," she said, a grin upon her red lips, "doesn't mean you get to buy everything for the babies."

"Pups," he corrected. She grinned.

"Pups." She pulled him down by his tie and kissed him again. His hands landed on either side of her hips, kissing her in return. The wind blew through the sakura tree, bringing a few petals to rest around them in a heavenly fragrance. Their lips parted and their noses and foreheads met.

"I love you, you know that?" Kagome said, eyes shining like the sea in sunset, eyelashes standing out against porcelain skin.

"Yes," he purred, "I know."


End file.
